Forgotten Ties
by fLuTe-chan
Summary: Some ties are better left forgotten...
1. Forgotten Ties

**Summary: **Time has passed and everyone is craving new moments of their lives. But time has stopped for Sakura, who was dead four years ago. But one day, she returned. And with her, she brings forgotten ties. Forgotten ties that… kill. And a legacy that will leave everyone devastated – The Kyuubi.

Fic is set eight years after Sasuke left Konoha at the age of twelve, which means that the Naruto crew is twenty now and which means Sakura died at the age of sixteen.

Pairings: NaruSakuSasu and many many more that I can't decide now. Final pairings will be settled as story progresses.

Note: Thoughts from characters are in brackets & italics.

* * *

**Chapter 1: Where It All Started Again**

The wind is blowing.

The eminent woman whom everyone in the Hidden Village of the Leaf addressed as the Fifth Hokage stood at the Hokage platform, overlooking the whole village.

Strands of her blonde hair got into her way and she carelessly brushed it aside, lifting her gaze up the sky, letting the soft breeze caress her tired face.

_(How many years has it been…? Five? Six..?)_

At the corners, stood Shizune, checking on her Tsunade-sama.

She would always find her standing there at the exact spot around the same time everyday. Years have passed, yet Shizune knew _the incident_ still bugged Tsunade. After all, Sa…

"Tsunade-obachan!"

Tsunade squinched her brows as she instantly recognized the owner of this over-spirited voice. She gazed across the crowd and fixed her brown eyes where a blonde boy with a silly grin smugly stood, waving at her. As expected, it was the Number One loud ninja of Konoha – Uzumaki Naruto.

"I saw SaAAHH!" Naruto received a deliberate push from someone behind him before he managed to finish what he enthusiastically wanted to announce, in which he landed hard on the ground.

"Ero Sennin! What was the push for!" spat Naruto, as he jumped up with accusing fingers pointing at Jiraya.

"Accident! Accident! It was an accident, Naruto!" said Jiraya cheerfully, before reminding Naruto the one thing he hated him calling, "And stop calling me ERO SENNIN!"

Naruto retorted something and soon the two could be seen arguing in the middle of the streets, drawing stares from everyone around them.

Tsunade, who witnessed the whole scene, cocked an eyebrow. Although she felt utterly exasperated with the two idiots, she couldn't help but noticed Naruto has grown up be quite a fine young man. He was as tall as Jiraya and his blue eyes sparkled charmingly as he moved around yapping with those excessive hand gestures. His features were sharpened now, though he still possessed his twelve years old boyishness in him. His golden locks have reached his neck and he tucked them under his forehead protector, which he fashioned it into a bandana.

_(Eight years. It's been eight years since I became the Hokage of Konoha. )_

"Looks like our peaceful days are over again." Shizune remarked with a smile, appearing alongside Tsunade with TonTon in her arms, who gave a snort in reply.

The argument got to the point where Naruto suddenly recalled about his interrupted announcement a while ago. He whirled around and was glad that Tsunade was still looking at them.

"Tsunade-obachan! SaHHMM!"

This time, Jiraya gagged him with his arm. But Naruto was quick to dive his teeth right into his arm, causing the saninin to yelp the pain out loud. Riled, Jiraya shoved Naruto near, whispering hot on his ears, "Some things are meant to be said in private, baka!"

"…" Naruto blinked his eyes "Like what?"

**FELL **

_(It's been a few years since he came under me! Why didn't he pick up any of my wits?) _

"LIKE WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO ANNOUNCE, YOU BAKA!" shouted Jiraya at the top of his lungs.

Naruto scratched his head in puzzlement. "What I'm going to announce…" Then ding! "Oh that… right…" He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly as he flashed his trademark grin. "I guess my excitement got into me. I'm just overjoyed that Sa-"

"Hmm!" Jiraya coughed, in which Naruto knew better and shut his gap.

Out of the corners of his eyes, Jiraya saw Tsunade walking away from the platform. As if on cue, Jiraya started for the Hokage's office. "Let's go."

-+-+-+-+-

The wind is blowing.

The girl whom everyone in this fortress addressed as Sakuya stood at the balcony of her bedroom, overlooking the vast greenery in front of her.

Strands of her cherry hair got into her way and she carelessly brushed it aside, lifting her gaze up to meet the soft breeze that whoosh by at that moment.

"A penny for your thoughts?"

Sakuya knew who it was before she felt the slender arm wrapping her around the neck.

Sakuya tensed, feeling a blush creeping up to her cheeks. "Yuya…"

Yuya rested her head on Sakuya's shoulder as she hummed a randomly soft tune. Her lips then trailed across Sakuya's neck, taking in the faint rose scent that lingered around her neck. Sakuya stood still, undecided the reaction she should produced.

"The cool guy said you were troubled." Yuya said in her usual light voice.

Sakuya suddenly found herself staring at a pair of violet eyes, not knowing what to say.

Yuya has been her kin for four years, yet most of the time, she found it hard to reveal her innermost thoughts to her.

In contrast to herself, Yuya has silvery long hair that reached passed her shoulders. But she braided it into an overlapping ponytail. She had a red crescent mark on her porcelain forehead, which was as wide as hers. Yuya's eyes were actually green, as she was told. But her advanced bloodline limit has turned it violet ever since.

Yes. Yuya came from an advanced bloodline clan. She was cheerful all the time, smiling all the time, yet Sakuya found it scary to be alone with her despite her friendliness. Sakuya mentally chided herself for thinking that way. Because if not for Yuya, she might have died in the blistering cold _that night_. In other words, Yuya was her saviour. She had given her everything. Power… Strength and a sense of worthiness. She was also her sensei. Teaching her everything she should knew. From taijutsu, ninjutsu, genjutsu to healing, Sakuya was now an all-rounder expert, with her genjutsu excelling among her other skills.

But still, Sakuya couldn't help but harbored negative thoughts about her. She felt all that she has now was not what she wanted. There was something more… something more she felt missing and more important…

"Well?" Yuya murmured huskily, snapping Sakuya out of her stupor as she stroked her blushed cheeks with her slender fingers, her violet eyes seemingly savoring her.

After a quick mental debate, Sakuya decided not to disclose her encounter with the blonde boy she met while on her way back after her mission. She needed to figure out the strong confusing emotions she felt for the boy first. But first thing first, Yuya was not someone whom you can brush off with mere easy words. She has to think up a clever excuse quick to cover up for her distracted behavior.

She pried Yuya's hands away from her and ran her hands through her rather tousled cherry locks. The confusing emotions bugged her more than she expected it to.

"I'm just exhausted. We didn't expect to encounter so many opponents on our way back and I guess I was reckless to use up too much chakra than I was supposed to."

Sakuya then looked away in a daze. _(Not clever enough.)_

Yuya kept his intent stare on Sakuya. _(Liar.)_

**-Flashback-**

"I see you're back." Said Yuya smoothly, sliding into her fuzzy white couch with her usual sadistic smile.

"Ah." Came a cold reply.

"So how's the mission?" asked Yuya, changing into a slight tensing tone as she already knew the answer.

"Accomplished." came a terse one-word answer again.

"Good." Yuya broadened her smile into a soft chuckle. She stood up and in a slick saunter, approached the man with crimson eyes and took a tattered scroll from his outstretched hand. She then embraced him, drawing his face close to hers. The cool Uchiha averted his gaze on Yuya, but his eyes were devoid of emotions.

"I know I can always trust you…How was her performance?" Yuya started to whirl her fingers on the muscular chest she's resting on.

"She met Naruto." Uchiha Itachi got straight to the point as he thought that Yuya should already know the heights her apprentice has reached.

The whirling of the fingers stopped and Itachi felt her stiffened. Then a sardonic laugh was heard. She languidly broke herself free from Itachi and turned herself around, hiding her face from Itachi's view.

"And?"

The tone was different now. It was stingingly caustic, totally different from her usual teasing tone of voice. Itachi was sort of used to her drastic change in temperament after all these years. She was a weirdo in her own ways, in Itachi's opinion. Not that he cared anyway, for the Akatsuki were never _normal_.

"They fought but both of them held back."

"They fought…?" Yuya turned her face slightly to her sides, posing the question more like a comment than a question.

"Interesting." A curve was formed at the corners of her lips. "It's about time anyway."

**-End of Flashback-**

"That's too bad as I have another mission for you." said Yuya, recovering her usual grin.

"Huh?" Sakuya was annoyed yet surprised. And she made no effort to conceal it. It's unlike Yuya to rush missions one after another like one two three.

Yuya emited a soft chuckle. "I'm so sorry but I'm running out of cash to sustain my lavish expenditures."

"Isn't anyone free right now?" Sakuya whined, resting her gloved hands on her hips. How she wished she could scream now, for the face of the blonde boy flashing across her mind repeatedly was just so…

"There is. But I only trust you to do it." Yuya replied as a matter of fact. "After all, you're my family. Who else but you can have my complete trust?"

Sakuya signed. "Shoot."

Yuya straightened herself and stared into the pair of green eyes now looking seriously at her.

"Remember this pet I had?"

-+-+-+-+-

"Impossible!" exclaimed Shizune. Her voice echoed down the halls of the Hokage's office and Naruto and Jiraya quivered at the firm tone of her voice. They both turned to Tsunade for help who was sitting casually behind her desk resting her head on one of her hands.

"It couldn't be her!" continued Shizune, throwing her hands up into the air.

"Quiet down, Shizune! You're making me deaf." Stated Tsunade nonchalantly, rubbing her ears.

"You already knew about this?" asked Jiraya, eyeing Tsunade suspiciously across the desk while Shizune displayed a look of surprise.

"Sort of." Replied Tsunade in a bored voice.

Naruto stepped forward and banged his fists hard on the desk, causing some scrolls and documents to fall from the desk. "How could you, Tsunade-obachan! You should have told me about it!"

"And what can you do?" yelled Tsunade as she stood up abruptly and grabbed Naruto by his collar. "You better learn some manners or I will make some decisions that YOU will regret."

The two hissed murderously at each other. Jiraya and Shizune face-faulted.

Some things just never changed.

The distraction came when they heard a knock on the door. With permission; an ANBU captain stepped into the room. He removed his mask and revealed Hyuuga Neji. He was still wearing the typical ANBU combat attire, Naruto noticed, and it soon registered in his mind that Neji just came back from a mission – expected to be a S-A rank type, for the Hyuuga's attire was soiled from dry blood and accumulated dust.

"Greetings, Hokaga-sama and Jiraya-sama, Shizune-san and Naruto-kun." Neji greeted with a slight bow.

Tsunade gave Naruto a 'this-is-what-I-called-manners' look. But the blonde chap dared to give a humph and turned away with folded arms.

Tsunade flinched at his behavior but Jiraya was quick to offer placatory words. With a sigh, she turned to Neji. "So how was it?"

Naruto cocked a furtive eyebrow at Neji, and the Hyuuga stared back with hesitation of his own. Tsunade caught the hint immediately and said, "Just spill the beans."

Neji nodded in understanding. "They are on the move again."

Naruto cocked a questioning brow.

Tsunade closed her eyes as she tried her best to digest this piece of irritating information calmly within her.

"And…" Neji hesitated, unsure of how he should break the news out to the Fifth, especially now that Naruto was present. She was his teammate after all.

"Well?" prompted Tsunade, her brows furrowing into a frown as she already guessed as much.

Neji decided to be blunt. "It's confirmed. Haruno Sakura is still alive but-"

"That was no news, Neji." Naruto interrupted with a finger waving smugly at him. "We already know. So where is she now? Tsunade-obachan, you got to issue an order for me to fetch her back."

Jiraya, however has his doubts. There was a 'but' that Naruto failed to notice. "He's not finished, Naruto. Why don't you listen quietly?"

"I'm afraid that things were more complicated that you think, Naruto-kun." Neji simply stated. "Some of us sparred with her and it was believed she was with the Akatsuki."

"What?" Naruto all but barked the word out.

Tsunade was unexpectedly quiet when her eyes were closed with her head low. When she opened her eyes and looked at Naruto, the chap was trying to keep his cool. For once, she doesn't mind about Naruto's outburst, for it was evident that Sakura still meant a lot to him.

It always has been.

"Go on." Tsunade probed.

"Uchiha Itachi was with her. We believed they were on a mission to recover an ancient scroll buried in the Hidden Village of The Sand."

Naruto was about to interrupt again when they heard a knock on the door. With Tsunade's permission, Yamanaka Ino stepped in with a weary-looking messenger from the Hidden Village of The Sand.

When Ino saw Neji present as the captain of his ANBU team, she reckoned they must be in the midst of an important discussion and she wondered if she had interrupted at the right time.

"Sensei, the Hidden Village of The Sand had requested our assistance." Ino spoke professionally, brushing off thousands of questions running through her head. The first was, why, of all people, was Naruto doing in the room? Wasn't anything supposed to be confidential whenever an ANBU is around?

"I shall take my leave." Ino gave a polite bow before starting out for the door but she was stopped by Tsunade.

"No, Ino. Stay."

Ino nodded, cleverly figuring out that it must have something to do with her, if not involving her. If Konoha agrees to send assistance, which most probably it will, she would definitely be on the list. After all, she's one of the Four.

Four… Ino's heart sank to the bottom of the sea whenever this thought came back to her. They have been strong as a team, meeting up Tsunade's expectations and accomplishing dangerous missions that no other kunoichis has ever had in the history of Konoha, or perhaps the whole country.

Tsunade purposefully coughed to remind her pupil from spacing out at this critical point of time, in which Ino caught the hint and have her eyes downcast to show her remorsefulness.

Tsunade then gave the Sand messenger an once-over, before motioning him to sit right across her.

"Hokage-sama! We desperately need Konoha's assistance in rebuilding our village!" The messenger started breathlessly.

"What happened?" Shizune asked.

"Our village was… annihilated. Almost… no difference anyway. The Akatsuki intruded into our village, Uchiha Itachi was one of them." The messenger choked on his words. Shizune gave an assuring pat on his shoulders.

"Then?" Naruto stepped forward. "What about Garaa and his siblings?"

Over the years, he has established a sort of friendship with the amnesic guy and he knew Uchiha Itachi's power as well as his ruthlessness. Although years have passed since he had encountered him, Naruto still remembered the set of crimson eyes that looked straight through anyone.

"Temari-sama was physically… and Kankuro-sama…" The messenger shook his head, unable to hold back the tears that flowed down his flushed cheeks.

Ino thought he was the most emotional messenger she ever met in her whole 20 years.

"I don't know how much longer they can hold on.. We were totally caught off guard!"

"WHAT ABOUT GARAA?" Naruto shouted, grabbing the messenger by the collar. The feeble messenger gulped in sweat. "He went missing. We believed he went after the annihilators."

"TEME!" Naruto all but dropped the messenger. "The UCHIHAs are such bastards! I swear I'm going to kill them! I'm going after Garaa!"

Naruto started for the door but Jiraya grabbed him by the arms. Naruto flung it away and Tsunade's commanding voice stopped him.

"STAND RIGHT THERE, NARUTO!"

Naruto paused in his tracks but before long, he started for the door again, in which Tsunade shouted, "THIS IS AN ORDER!"

Grudgingly, Naruto stormed right before her and folded his arms, fuming to himself.

Tsunade, after taking a deep breath, turned to the messenger and said, "We will definitely send assistance. We will get the details from you after you are settled. Two days from now, we will dispatch two teams to your village to check up the situation first before deciding whether to send more aid later."

The messenger said his thanks and was led away by a Chunin to a restroom prepared for him.

Tsunade then summoned for Tenten and Hinata. When the two arrived in a puff of smoke, Ino unwittingly stood next to them. Tsunade studied all three of them carefully, before motioning Neji to recite the news again to the trio.

When Neji stopped where he was interrupted a while ago, all three of them had her own set of shocked expressions.

Ino shook her head furiously, uttering, "No, it can't be her. Impossible…"

Shizune squeezed her shoulders and found that the blonde lass was shivering.

Tsunade gave it a thought. She couldn't believe it either. "Two years after we thought she was dead, I actually received reports from our ANBU that a kunoichi who fitted the description of Sakura was spotted somewhere near the hidden village of Bamboos."

Naruto, Hinata, Tenten and Ino widened their eyes, unable to believe that the news was kept from them _that long_. After all, Sakura was their comrade; they have the right to know.

As if reading their minds, Tsunade continued, "I didn't want to raise false hopes before confirming she was indeed alive. But as the reports I've gathered over the years goes to show, it seems that Sakura is indeed alive."

"She has changed." Naruto finally admitted, remembering the fight he had with her a while back.

So, they had _really_ fought each other and what was most heartbreaking was the fact she had showed no mercy when dueling with him. Every move, every action was aimed for his death.

**-Flashback-**

Naruto and Jiraya were passing by the border of the hidden village of the Sands when they decided to freshen up by the river.

It was then they realized the river was dyed red.

"Huh?"

"Something is happening upfront." Jiraya stated, already setting his sights ahead of the river.

"Let's go find out!"

His enthusiastic disciple disappeared before the white-haired man could stop him. He twitched an exasperated eyebrow at that. "That KID!"

Upfront, there was a fight. Three Sand shinobis were fighting one masked figure. Judging from the curves of the figure and the delicate moves it executed, Naruto reckoned the gender to be of a female. Not to say that the hair was an extreme giveaway. It was of lustrous pink that reached to her waist but she tied it up in high ponytail separated by two braids.

By the time Naruto reached, concealing himself on one of the most shadowed tree branch of all the trees nearby, the last of the three Sands had already collapsed to the ground, their blood flowing ceaselessly down the river.

Sakuya smirked (_How naïve of them…)_

As she tied her headband around her ponytail, which was the reason why she headed back to the village she and Itachi had just wiped out, she sensed someone nearby.

_(There is another one… no.. two. At five o' clock.)_

"Are you too scared to come out?" Sakuya mocked, turning her body to the direction where Naruto and Jiraya, who just reached, were hiding.

Naruto gritted his teeth and leaped off the branch, where Jiraya was again too slow in grabbing him.

Jiraya was shaking… shaking with fury as he raised a shaky fist filled with exasperation.

_(Why does he always fall to obvious traps?)_

Naruto frowned, shooting killer looks at the masked kunoichi in front of him. Most of her face was veiled, with the exception of her green eyes.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked, finding the pink-haired masked kunoichi disturbingly familiar. "And what do you want with the Sands?"

_(A shinobi from the hidden village of the Leaf… oh right, they are allies, I almost forgot.) _Sakuya thought as she saw the leaf symbol on Naruto's forehead protector.

"I'm not obliged to answer that." Sakuya said instead in a slick manner, deciding to play around for a while.

_(Her voice.. Sounds like… could it be…? Impossible. )_

Naruto hesitated his moves, unsure of what to do first time ever since he got stronger. Sakuya saw his weakness and began her attacks by throwing poisonous needles at him, which Naruto dodged it smoothly. But one of them managed to slip past his neck, sending his blood surging out from his bruised flesh.

Naruto flinched. It was just a scratch. So why does it hurt so much? He touched his wound and found that his blood turned purple black. Soon after, unknown numbness crept up his body. He looked at the spot where she stood and found that she was gone…

_(No!) _Inner Naruto reminded himself of the imminent danger as he felt someone… (_Above!)_

He leaped away as fast as his body allowed and Sakuya landed adroitly on the spot where Naruto was, causing a deep hole underneath.

"I'm impressed honestly. Not many can even move after they received my poisonous needles." remarked Sakuya as she slowly raised herself up.

_(That was…) _Jiraya dilated his eyes with surprise (_Tsunade's…) _as he leaped swiftly off the branch, which received three poisonous needles on his behalf. (_Skill.)_

The tree branch corroded shortly after his departure.

He came face to face with Sakuya with Naruto beside him, bending on his knees.

Sakuya gave a snort.

"Who you are and what you want with the Sands…" Jiraya began. "are none of our concern."

"Ero sennin! How could you say that? The Sands are our ally!"

Jiraya shot Naruto a knowing look but he failed to catch the hint. Instead, he focused on the damned kunoichi upfront.

"No matter what, I'm going to bring her down! Kage Bunshin no jutsu!"

"Wait…" Again, Jiraya was late in stopping Naruto as hundreds of them appeared right before him. He signed and dodged aside to see how it goes.

"Eh?" Naruto looked around. She was nowhere in sight. She was neither up the sky nor down in the ground.

_(Clever.) _Jiraya thought. As much as he hated to admit, he was surprised at the depth of her genjutsu. Even he, one of the revered legendary Sannin, needed a few moments to figure out her exact location. She moved pretty fast too. She was four clones behind Naruto now.

_(Naruto let's see how much you have improved after this training. I hope the poison doesn't pose much of a problem though…)_

Naruto gulped as he felt his heartbeat rumbling hard against his own breathing.

_(She must be among them then… the question is.. which one?)_

His eyes darted around, looking for any giveaway from his clones.

There were none.

He couldn't dispel them now. His body condition might not allow him to move fast against her attacks. Besides, he doesn't want to spoil the excitement surging within his body right now. He couldn't care if his neck was shouting vehemently for his attention. If he was to tap his skills, now would be the perfect chance.

It would be his turn to launch his attack.

"What shall we do?" One of the clones asked.

"How the hell am I supposed to know?" Another one answered.

"SHUT UP!" Naruto ordered.

Silence engulfed them as all of them stood still.

Sakuya decided to wait. She was curious as to what this man with blonde spikes would do. She was actually surprised at the extent of her patience towards this hotheaded blonde. Usually, her opponents would be silenced within seconds once she was provoked. So she couldn't understand the suppression she had for him. Her previous attacks at him were calculated. Not too light for him to think she was weaker, nor was it too harsh to end his life with one blow. Somehow, she felt a sense of familiarity seeing him. It's as though she knew him…

Sakuya felt a stinging pain at the back of her head at this instant. She cursed silently, casting Naruto a cautious look and was glad she was still undiscovered. But Naruto was certainly facing her now.

Whenever she tried to associate with her past, something like this would happen. The stinging pain at the back of her head would stop her from probing anything from her past.

_(Hm! My headband!) _Oblivious that her precious headband had dropped, Sakuya silently prayed that the clone, whose feet was barely inches away from her headband, would stand still. When the clone unwittingly moved and was about to step on it, Sakuya shouted, "Don't!"

It was then Naruto discovered her and began charging at her in full speed.

Sakuya couldn't care. She would worry later. Her headband is more important, perhaps more than her own life. It's the only thing left of her past and she wouldn't allow anything or anyone to ruin it.

As she clutched the headband tightly in her hands, which she used it to shield her face, she landed hard on the ground, prepared for the worst outcome.

Naruto smirked, generating a whirlpool of chakra in one of his hands as he continued charging at Sakuya.

_(Girls will be girls...)_

Though he couldn't show off his new skills, he was still glad that he got the last laugh.

_(But wait, that was…!)_

Naruto noticed the green headband that she held dearly in her hands. It was the same green headband he had given to Sakura. He had bought it for her while on his way back on one of his missions in one of the towns his team was passing by.

He quickly withdrew his deadly Rasengan and instead came crashing down, landing on top of her.

Jiraya slapped his forehead. (_What the hell was that idiot thinking?)_

Sakuya stiffened as she breathed in Naruto's scent, not moving an inch of her muscles. Naruto slowly lifted his body and stared down at her, his two arms pinned down against the ground beside her head as his blue eyes pierced into her green ones.

Naruto's heartbeat banged hard within him as he slowly attempted to unveil the mask his pink-haired opponent was wearing. He knew she was nervous too, for her quick uprising of her chest gave her emotions away.

But she does nothing to stop his act.

Naruto flung the veil away and was caught in total shock.

There she was… a grown-up Haruno Sakura lying with wide eyes beneath him as she tried to read his expressions.

"Sa.. Sakura-chan…" Naruto barely made out a whisper.

He was glad.. and the same time shocked that Sakura was alive all these years.

Suddenly, before Naruto could recover from the shock, he felt an acute pain somewhere on the lower part of his body.

Sakura had stabbed him in his abdomen and pushed him away.

She quickly got up, grabbed her veil and was about to leap off when Jiraya appeared in front of her.

She eyed Jiraya closely.

_(He's a bit too strong for me now.) _Sakuya concluded.

She averted her gaze to Naruto, who looked at her longingly with an outstretched hand.

"Sakura… don't go…"

Sakuya hesitated. (_Move, Sakuya! Move! )_

She dropped a vial on the ground, which Jiraya surmised was the antidote of her poison, shot Jiraya another cautious look and disappeared in a gush of wind.

It was then Naruto finally passed out and Jiraya kept whining having to carry him all the way back to Konoha.

**-End of Flashback-**

Tsunade eyed Naruto carefully, and was somewhat glad that the chap has finally come to terms that the Sakura now was no longer the Sakura they knew. His head were hung low and his fists were clenched. Tsunade then realized that all the acts he pulled a while ago was just a form of denial that his Sakura-chan was no longer…

"Hokage-sama?" Neji interrupted her thoughts. "I haven't finished my report."

"Oh.. sorry. But before that, what did you find out with this Yuya figure?

It has been years since the Fifth tried to track her down, but she always managed to give it a slip. And it was only recently that the Akatsuki was active again that they managed to gather more information about this shadowy figure in the organization.

Neji cleared his throat. "She is known as Yuya to most but her full name is Mizu Yuya."

_(Mizu...) _Tsunade was shocked and she made no effort to conceal it. Now she understood why she failed to track her down after all these years...

She leaned against her desk and rubbed her chin, urging Neji to say more with her set of intent brown eyes.

"And it seemed she is not a member of the Akatsuki…"

Tsunade frowned, not liking the open-ended tone of Neji. She breathed deeply to prepare herself for this certain bad news that was about to reveal from his lips.

The rest tried to keep their breathing steady as they waited for Neji to continue.

"She is the leader."


	2. Enemy Alert! Mizu Yuya?

**Chapter 2: Enemy Alert! Mizu Yuya?**

**She was from a earliest clan of elites.. Cream of the crop with the heart of purest evil. She was Mizu Yuya, mastermind behind the infamous Akatsuki organization.**

* * *

The news was received with silence.

Tsunade and Jiraya shared a knowing look before Tsunade turned away, deciding to focus her attention somewhere else instead.

"What's with the silence?" Naruto finally burst, after realizing neither Jiraya nor Tsunade has the desire to probe Neji further. Usually, this type of silence between the two legendary figures meant something… something deadly serious and extremely unpleasant to be exact.

Neji decided to take the lead. "From the reports we have gathered, we have every reason to believe that Haruno Sakura is now holding a higher-up rank in the organization, presumably…" He did a quick scan at the report in his hands. "Yuya's right-hand man, responsible for most of the high level assassinations in the organization for the past two years she is active."

"IMPOSSIBLE!" Both Naruto and Ino snapped together, with expressions ready to burn Neji alive.

Tsunade squeezed her eyes tight while rubbing her sweaty forehead, trying her best to keep her temper in check by ignoring the two noisy ones in her office.

Neji spared the two his usual stoic stare, and turned back to Tsunade. "Her highest records was about eight hundred and fifty eight assassinations in one month, which means about twenty to-"

"I don't need the details now." The Fifth suddenly interrupted, waving a hand of displeasure.

"What is your proposition for this case?" She then asked.

The Fifth was straight to the point, in Neji's opinion. He surmised that the Hokage knew, as well as he do, where this conversation is leading.

Hyuuga Neji gave it a thought and signed. Damn.. This is one delicate case of betrayal! Partly because the Haruno was one of Konoha's Four, the Hokage's favored disciple and one of Konoha's pillars of strength but largely were due to the fact that he had worked with her before.

She was the medic in his team.

On a fine day few years ago, some S-classed criminals were spotted lurking around Konoha's border, which the Fifth found it suspicious and sent for his team to investigate. During the process, Haruno showed absolute team spirit and competency and not to mention her shrewdness, in wiping out the threats. She not only healed, she could also fight pretty well.

Of course, they had some casual conversations in between, which Neji was left with the impression that Haruno Sakura was someone who will never bend to evil calls.

But who knows? People do change...

So, what should he say? How should he start?

"I believe whatever decision Hokage-sama makes will be of best interests to Konoha."

There… perfect.

Tsunade showed an ironic expression at that reply, which Neji tried to ignore and concluded, "The ABNU squad will be on standby mode awaiting for the Fifth's instructions."

"WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?" Naruto and Ino shouted together at Tsunade, which proved to be a huge mistake…

The two was sent flying across the room before they realized it, with Ino landing on top of Naruto…

"Iiitaiii…" Ino moaned, rubbing the back of her head as she sat up but still on top of Naruto.

"Ino-chhann… do.. do you mind…?" Naruto choked on his words as he attempted to push Ino off his body. He wouldn't mind if it was Sakura though… but he knows that the level-headed pink-haired female ninja would never commit such acts for him to have the chance.

With her hands on her hips, Tsunade stared down at the two. "Don't. Provoke me." There was a pause, indicating she meant what she said. The words were drawled out in a dangerously calm voice, meaning to hint that she was _already_ provoked.

"Looks like the legacy of the Mizus are not to be underestimated after all…" Jiraya chimed in while Tenten and Hinata offered their help to Ino and Naruto.

Tsunade remained quiet.

"Who are these Mizu people?" Tenten asked, her curiosity getting the better of her. It _usually takes a lot_ to make her sensei this disturbed.

Jiraya rubbed his chin. "The Mizus… how should I start ne…?"

"It's said that the origins of shinobis can be traced to this clan." Hinata interrupted, making her comrades turned to her in question.

"So you know.." Jiraya remarked, a little surprised that shinobis her age actually knew the existence of this historic, perhaps the oldest clan in history.

"I've heard it from my father." Hinata replied as a matter of fact.

"You're pretty much informed." Jiraya praised as an idea struck his head. The Mizus had a long history. Although he knows about it, explaining it would be well quite a hassle. "Then I shall give you the honor of doing the explaining!"

Hinata nodded and turned to her eagerly comrades. "As I said, the origins of shinobis can be traced to this significant clan." They nodded for her to continue. "Long before our time, their ancestors were actually a bunch of elite assassins working for a feudal lord then. But somehow in between, there were disagreements among both parties and the Phoenix decided to work for their own, thus forming the clan that goes by the name of Mizu."

"What's with the Phoenix name?" Ino asked.

"It's a name they called themselves before the formation of the clan. A thing to note though, that the true descendents of the Mizus bear their family emblem upon birth, which is at the back of their heads."

"Amazing.. how does the birthmark look like?" This time, it was Tenten who asked.

The whole Mizu legacy has captured their full attention.

"It looks something like a bird's feather, assumingly the Phoenix's feather."

"How big is it?" Ino asked.

Hinata gave it a thought. "Well, about an inch or two… I'm not sure;I've not seen a real one."

Ino widened her eyes with intense curiosity. "Where have you seen it?"

"In the Hyuuga's History Book. It records almost all the powerful clans in history."

Hinata bit her lip. From what she knows about her two comrades for the past eight years, she is sure, in another second or two, the two girls are bound to ask her for the book.

"Impressive." Tenten remarked, already quirking an eyebrow.

"You gotta let us read it sometimes!" Ino stated excitedly.

_(I knew it…)_ Hinata twisted her lips a little. "… I don't think so."

"WHY?" Tenten and Ino protested together.

"I can't believe you're so selfish!" Ino said.

"I can't believe our years of friendship can't even surpass an _old book_!" Tenten added right after Ino.

"The branch family were not allowed to touch the book, much less the outsiders." Neji interrupted.

Silence took over after that. Both kunoichis dared not probe further, for they knew the stringency of Hyuuga house rules.

Naruto humph and folded his arms. "What's so great about the Mizus anyway…?"

"Their greatness is in their abilities, which are still unrivaled today." Jiraya chimed in, rubbing his nose. "No one has the chance anyway."

Naruto frowned. "Why?"

Frankly speaking, he's getting pretty irritated about this Mizu clan.

"That! I will leave it to our Hinata-sensei to explain!" Jiraya suggested readily, giving Hinata a wink.

Hinata nodded in response, turning to Naruto. "They are why we existed today. They are the ones who created ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu… whatever skills we have today originated from them. In other words, they created us."

With his frown intact, Naruto widened his eyes at that answer.

"Or in simpler terms for you.." Ino interrupted with her usual sarcasm, "They are arguably our common ancestor… the ancestor of shinobis."

"What about the advanced bloodline clans? Like the Uch-"

"They originated from the Mizus as well." Hinata cut Naruto off with this unbelievable fact. When she saw the confused look on Naruto, Hinata explained, "The History Book states that the Mizus reached a point where their clan got so huge that some decided to detach from the main clan and formed their own, specializing into their area of abilities. That's when advanced bloodline clans like the Uchihas boomed."

Naruto was rendered speechless. And so was Ino and Tenten. They couldn't believe that such a clan even existed. Jiraya gave a look of perceptiveness while Shizune kept her stare on Tsunade, whose eyes were downcast.

"You mean the Mizus are able to use their family special abilities like the Sharingan and the Byukagan..?" Naruto asked, wanting to affirm the news he just received.

"Technically speaking, yes. But only a true Mizu can do that."

The trio in front of Hinata are about to ask questions again when Hinata continued, knowing exactly what they're thinking.

"As I said, the clan got huge. And it was believed that some members have mixed around with other bloods that were deemed impure. The elders of the clan, in order to preserve and identify pure Mizu lineage, had performed a powerful seal to give their true descendents a birthmark, resembling the shape of the Phoenix's feather, which is, as I said before also, the Mizu's family emblem."

"Where are they? Where do they live?" Ino asked, wondering what the Mizus are like.

Hinata quirked an eyebrow. "This is perhaps a question that we will never have an answer to."

"Eh?" Bewilderment flashed across their faces as Naruto asks, "How come? What happened?"

"The whole clan mysteriously vanished one day." Shizune finally voiced out, seeing that Hinata was getting pretty tired with the explanation.

"But how..?" Tenten asked, disbelief evident in her voice.

Shizune shrugged her shoulders. "They just… disappeared overnight. Nobody knows what happened or where they went."

Shizune then took a step forward from where she's been standing. "However, there is this popular belief that they got so powerful that they ascended to Heaven as Gods."

Ino remained amazed while Hinata congruently nodded to what Shizune had said. Tenten gave it a thought while Neji folded his arms.

Naruto rolled his eyes.

Honestly, Naruto thought that was the stupidest thing he has ever heard. Something must have happened but it was kept secret. He then smirked at his own intelligence. He thought of Sakura again. It was she who taught him to always look things beyond what they really are.

He still remembered her words then.

They were on a mission together to escort this prince to another country for a dinner invitation. Somewhere along the way, they got separated with their own set of enemies but in the end, Sakura managed to find him. When the mission ended and they were on their way back to Konoha, Naruto asked how she managed to figure out where he was, she edgily answered, "Shinobis need to think beyond the normal! Kaka-sensei said that, remember!"

Honestly, he didn't.

Sakura then softened her features. "There are no coincidences in this world we lived in. When something happens, it happens for a reason. Sometimes the reason is hidden, so all we got to do is to find out! That is if we want to know."

She then narrowed her eyes at him playfully. "You left your place of duty because you thought I was in danger, didn't you?"

Naruto blushed then.

"So now obviously, it seems that the Mizu lineage has not completely died off with the existence of this Mizu Yuya."

Naruto was reeled back to reality upon Tenten's serious voice.

"I don't understand." Ino brushed strands of her blond hair away from her irritated face as she said, "Why is Sakura involving herself with such a dangerous person? What does Yuya want with Sakura? And, and, how _the hell_ did she revived Sakura in the first place?"

Tenten took a few to and fro steps, figuring, "Perhaps the corpse we saw was not Sakura. Perhaps she was still alive when her body was swapped by the time we reached."

"Perhaps we have to be _two hundred percent_ alert in dealing with Yuya." Hinata quipped. "Because if what Tenten reckoned is correct, then we're safe to conclude that she is indeed a deep figure. It takes a lot of depth to perform such deep genjutsu as hers." Hinata stated thoughtfully.

Then something suddenly crossed her mind.

Orochimaru was in her organization. For someone like him to bend to her, it would basically mean that...

"Perhaps her abilities exceed even Orochimaru."Jiraya informed, saying Hinata's thoughts out. "How could I forget? She is a Mizu after all."

Silence filled the room after the Sannin's statement, each accessing how bad the situation can be in their minds.

"Does that mean now we now have a _creepier_ enemy?" Ino remarked finally.

No one answered. Instead, knowing looks were exchanged.

"Ino." Tsunade's grim interruption made the blonde kunoichi jumped a little when she heard her name being called.

"Yes, sensei?"

"I would like to visit Mrs. Haruno."


	3. Within The Approaching Hurricane

**Chapter 3: Within The Approaching Hurricane**

**There is a reason why some things are kept secret...

* * *

**

Sakuya reckoned this is going to be one _long_ mission she is going to hate.

She tucked her hands behind her head as she fixed her expressionless eyes on the dull ceiling above her, her body fidgeting then and there on the bed to imply her disinclination on this newly-assigned mission of hers.

She was to be an undercover for the Akatsuki until the Kyuubi was retrieved.

The Kyuubi… apparently, the passage of time has not lessened its owner's desire on him. If truth be told, the desire has in fact, grown stronger than ever.

Sakuya sighed and flipped to her side, only to find a black folder lying pertinently next to her. She had tossed the file on her bed when Yuya left her room a while ago. Tentatively, she flipped the file open and tried to study the snapshot of the identity she was going to impersonate. - A pink-haired girl looking exactly like her, but seemingly about four years younger, smiling brightly under the sun.

"Haruno Sakura…ka?" Sakuya muttered as her mind involuntarily wandered back to her conversation with Yuya a while ago.

**-Flashback-**

"Remember this pet I had?" Yuya had asked suggestively.

"The Nine-Tails?" Sakuya cleverly guessed. It has to be.

"Hn." The snort made by Yuya sounded nonchalant. But Sakuya knew Yuya was anything but nonchalant when it comes to this so-called pet of hers.

Yuya had mentioned to her about the Kyuubi before; about how much fun she used to have when it was around to how, in the end he was sealed in the body of a boy named Uzumaki Naruto. And occasionally during conversations, she would just slide in remarks about its strength but she would always brush it off with some stupid teasing and the whole Kyuubi thing was like, forgotten.

It is the first time though, that Yuya has central this subject as the main conversation… as a discussion… as a mission.

Indeed, it has captured Sakuya's full attention as she in fact, often wondered why Yuya made no attempts in getting _her beloved_ Kyuubi back.

"What about it?" Sakuya asked instead, surmising Yuya, perhaps had it _all planned out_ already.

And indeed, the pair of violet orbs were filled with determination when she said, "I want it back."

It was four simple words enriched with absolute bitterness.

Bitterness that Sakuya thought that Yuya didn't have before.

Bitterness that evident that it made Sakuya feel that the Yuya in front of her was like a total stranger.

But before Sakuya can have the chance to discuss the question as to _how_ to get it back, Yuya handed a black file to her, which Sakuya thought she must be really distracted to fail to notice the rectangular file in Yuya's hands all the while.

She took it and gave Yuya a cautious glance before flipping the file open, and found a picture of herself in it…

"What the…?"

"Haruno Sakura." Yuya began, ignoring the disturbed frown on Sakuya. "A konoichi from the Country of Fire, hidden village of the Leaf. Born on the twenty-eighth of March. But…" Yuya made an unexpected giggle, which made Sakuya look up from the file she's been studying with a deeper frown.

"She died on the sixth of October."

Sakuya took a while to digest this piece of information before she asked, "But why does her look-"

"Like you?" Yuya interrupted while quirking an eyebrow with a hint of her usual tease.

"Hn." Sakuya's voice was barely a whisper.

Yuya studied her a little before saying in a bored voice, "Literally speaking, it's y_ou_ who_ look like her_."

"Huh?" Sakuya was obviously confused at that statement.

"When I found you, not only were you on the brink of death, you were also badly disfigured." Yuya explained.

"I was..?" Sakuya's voice trailed off uncertainly. The face she has had never belonged to her in the first place? Though unwilling to accept Yuya's words, Sakuya was but forced to absorb them nonetheless.

Yuya nodded before continuing with a shrug of her shoulders. "I didn't know how you look like in the past and subsequently I met her. And since she had the same color hair as yours, she naturally became a model for me to mold you a pretty face like hers."

Sakuya narrowed her eyes suspiciously at that explanation. It resulted in a lot of questions running through her mind now. Like how Yuya met her? How strong was she? How did she… die?

But the main issue perturbing her was that she was unable to connect this Sakura girl with this Kyuubi retrieving mission.

"What has _she_ got to do with my mission anyway?" Sakuya blurted.

Yuya chuckled in response, which kind of irritated Sakuya. "Take on her identity. Be her. As you know, my sweetie is sealed in the body of this boy named Naruto, who happens to be her comrade. I need you to be a mole in Konoha in order to lure him into giving back my Kyuubi."

"You want me to impersonate her?" Sakuya exclaimed, her unwillingness doubled in that instant.

"What makes you think I gave you her face in the first place?" Yuya retorted with a sort of an innocent face.

_(Gotcha!)_ Inner Sakuya thought. As she surmised, Yuya _REALLY_ had it _ALL_ thought out.

Sakuya inhaled sharply, a sign to show that she was well, offended at Yuya's statement. When Yuya saw the grimace on Sakuya, she tried to coax, "Come on, it will be fun!"

"Besides..." she then slung an arm over Sakuya's shoulders, ignoring Sakuya's change of mood by whispering, "You _do_ want to impress Itachi, right?"

Sakuya remained silent. And Yuya was amused to see the color slowly creeping across Sakuya's face at the mention of the Uchiha.

Interesting.

"Let me tell you something. He failed this mission some years ago." Yuya stated as a matter of fact.

Sakuya's jaws dropped then.

Itachi? Failed missions? No matter how she looked at it, she just couldn't link the two together!

"What?" Sakuya mouthed faintly.

Yuya sighed and leaned against the parapet. "Can't blame him though. The boy has Jiraya as his caretaker."

"Jiraya…" Sakuya tried to search this name through her memory from her hours of intensive reading. "You mean Jiraya, one of the revered Sannins from Konoha?"

The question hung in the air as Yuya slowly nodded. "Another one, as you know, is the Hokage of Konoha. So that's why we can't face them heads on. It will only result devastating losses to Akatsuki."

"But how sure are you that they will be taken in by me?" Sakuya inquired, already feeling her confidence wavering at the mention of the two legendary figures.

"They will, believe me. I got it _all _planned out flawlessly." Yuya finally admitted, glancing away _somewhere _at the panoramic view of the vast forest in front of them.

"Besides…" Sakuya held her breath in anticipation as Yuya drawled, "We got the last Sannin to help us out."

A smirk sneaked up on Yuya's lips after she said that statement, her gaze still focused on that _somewhere_ spot of the forest.

"Orochimaru?" Sakuya uttered, and cringed at that name. She met him once before when Yuya and she was on a sightseeing trip that Yuya had persistently insisted.

In Sakuya's opinion, he was one creepy man.

"Hn." Yuya answered distractingly before suggesting to Sakuya with a tilt of her head towards the spot she's been staring.

"And not to mention, the cutie redhead who followed you guys back. Make sure you fully utilize him."

-+-+-+-+-

Ino walked quietly beside Tsunade. The sun was setting now and they were on their way to the Haruno house.

Just the two of them.

Tsunade had hastily dismissed the rest until further instructions and wanted only her presence for this visitation.

Ino wondered why. Why she is the only one. And she couldn't understand the urgency behind this meeting, though it is only right that the Harunos should be informed that their daughter was still alive. She glanced at her sensei and found her having this faraway look in those brown eyes of hers.

Suddenly, Tsunade stopped in her tracks and Ino acted on instinct.

They have reached the Haruno house.

She pressed the doorbell, waited for a few seconds before they heard the shuffling of feet towards the door. The door creaked open and revealed a haggard face of a mother.

"Hokage-sama." Mrs. Haruno acknowledged. She offered the Fifth a faint smile, but immediately appeared wary as she gestured them into the house. "Please come in."

Tsunade nodded and stepped inside, followed by Ino.

"Mrs. Haruno, what are you cooking?" Ino babbled as the smell of cooking pervaded the house once she was inside.

"Just some herbal soup to beat the weather. Don't forget to bring some home later." Mrs. Haruno answered, not forgetting to cast furtive glances at Tsunade.

"Have a seat while I bring out the tea." Mrs. Haruno then doubled back into the kitchen while Tsunade and Ino make themselves comfortable on the crouch.

Ino looked around before turning to her sensei beside her, "Sensei, why are we here?"

Tsunade smirked, thinking that her apprentice has finally propped the question. "You will know later."

Ino raised a questioning eyebrow, but decided to remain silent anyway.

Minutes later, Mrs. Haruno appeared with a tray of tea in her hands. She sat back while Tsunade and Ino sip their tea. She inhaled and exhaled. Then she asked, "So what is it that the Fifth wanted to see me about?"

"It's about Sakura." Tsunade answered readily. "She is still alive."

Mrs. Haruno was instantly concerned.

"She… she is..?" Mrs. Haruno murmured apprehensively.

"Yes." Ino answered. "But she is working for the Akatsuki, an organization of S-classed criminals controlled by this lady by the name of Mizu Yuya."

Ino thought the name 'Yuya' certainly rang a bell to her. If only she could recall …

But Mrs. Haruno's reaction was not what Ino has expected. She has expected the mother to throw in a fit, to at least probed them about the details of this dubious organization, about how things has gotten this far.. but nothing. Nothing came out of Mrs. Haruno as she remained surprisingly calm in her seat with downcast eyes. It seems as though she fully understood what was going on.

Mrs. Haruno took a deep breath. _She_ hasn't given up. _She_ still wants it.

Her heart was pounding and her lungs were screaming but it was then that she lifted her gaze to meet Tsunade's. "So what is it you want to know?"

"You can start with your family history, Mrs. Haruno." Tsunade stated firmly. "Or should I call you… Mizu Kazumi?"

Ino blinked, and stared at Mrs. Haruno with her mouth agape.

-+-+-+-+-+-

"I don't understand what Tsunade-obachan is thinking!" Naruto blurted while slurping down his ramen at Ichiraku, alongside with Jiraya and Hinata.

Tenten had gone to find the others to inform them about the news of Sakura while Neji had went home to change.

"Tsunade knows what she is doing! So stop worrying about her!" Jiraya chipped in light-heartedly while slurping his bowl of beef ramen.

"I'm not worrying about her! I'm worrying about Sakura-chan! How is Tsunade-obachan going to deal with her? She has asked us to wait until further instructions! How can we wait when we are supposed to bring Sakura-chan back as soon as possible? And why does she only want Ino-chan to accompany her to Sakura's house? Can't she just delegate this trivial task to some chuunin and discuss the retrieving plan with us first?" Naruto retorted, oblivious that Hinata has kept her say all the while.

Jiraya glanced at Hinata, who quietly slurped her ramen. "Hey, hey! You're scaring the lady with your boisterous voice!"

Naruto then gave Hinata an absent-minded look, who returned it with a smile. "It's alright."

"Ne ano sa, Hinata… aren't you worried at all?" Naruto asked.

"I believe in dealing the things as they come." Hinata replied tersely and took an elegant sip of her tea.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at her. From a timid, soft-spoken girl to the now serious and very, _very _cool girl, Naruto still reckoned she was still one weird girl full of her own mysteries.

"But…" Hinata started, looking at Naruto intently. "I must admit my curiosity is piqued this time."

"Huh?" Naruto, as being the typical Naruto, was baffled by Hinata's statement as the girl paid for her meal and stepped out of the ramen shop, her feet starting for _her destination_.

-+-+-+-+-+-

"Sakura is still alive!" Kiba exclaimed, unbelievable of the news just told to them.

"Shhh!" Tenten hushed, placing her finger on her lips to signify the secretive nature of this news.

Kiba, Shino, Chouji, Shika, Lee and she were gathered on one of their training grounds in the woods. That's where they always are anyway.

Tenten had interrupted their trainings and request for a talk, gathering the five of them into a convenient corner, where nobody else can stay near without their detection.

"Thank God she is still alive! I knew she survived that!" Lee blurted out after that, relief clearly shown on his teary face.

Shino raised an eyebrow while Chouji continued munching his potato chips. Shikamaru muttered a lazy "It looks trouble to me." under the tree while Kiba and Akamaru looked excited.

"Where is she now? Is she injured? Who is going to fetch her?" Lee hastily quizzed.

"Shh! Any louder and I won't tell more!" Tenten exploded, already feeling exasperated especially at Lee, though it's only natural that they were excited about this news.

The eleven of them has formed a close bond with each other since the Chunnin exam about seven years ago. Yes, with the exception of Shikamaru and Shino, who are already Chunnins, the rest have all been successfully promoted to Chunnin then. Though, by the arrangement of Tsunade, she, along with Ino, Hinata and Sakura has formed the official team, they do get split up and worked with the boys from time to time. So it can be said that they braved storms together, helping each other on the way though missions and words of encouragement.

And each and every one of them has stand out in their own ways. She, Ino, Hinata as well as Sakura has become the eminent Four from Konoha, accomplishing impossible missions in tight deadlines with their flawless teamwork while Neji was enlisted in the ANBU squad four years ago. Shika refused the enlistment four years ago and is now a strategist for the squad instead. As for Kiba, Shino, Chouji and Lee, they too have become Jounins four years ago while Naruto travels with Jiraya periodically to learn jutsus from him. As for Sasuke… well, Tenten brushes him aside as she doesn't really want to include that guy into their group since his selfish departure eight years ago.

"I'm done with the good news. Now the bad news." Tenten stated half-heartedly.

"She is with the Akatsuki."

"HUH?" All five heads exclaimed simultaneously, scaring nearby birds to flap away hastily.

"I know this is even more unbelievable but that is the fact!" Tenten said, throwing her hands in the air.

Silence engulfed the group for a moment before Shikamaru asked, "What is the Fifth going to do about her?"

Tenten shrugged, settling herself beside Shikamaru with downcast eyes. For the first time, she felt helpless.

"I believe she is forced to work for them! Sakura-san would never betray Konoha!" Lee defended.

"We can't be sure." Shikamaru remarked, looking at Lee. "I hope you didn't erase Uchiha Sasuke from your mind."

"You think it's because of Sasuke-kun that she went to the other side?" Lee asked, feeling his heart sinking.

"We can't be certain." Kiba chimed in.

Tenten was to protest when Chouji butted in with his mouth full of tidbits. "Where is Hinata and Ino?"

Tenten sighed. "Hinata is with Naruto and Jiraya-sama at the Ichiraku while Ino…" Tenten stopped herself in midway, thinking perhaps Ino could provide the answers to the questions in their minds right now. After all, she was the only one allowed to be with Tsunade to Sakura's house. And from what she has known from her sensei over the years, the Fifth always does things with a reason, well for most of the time she was. So perhaps…

"Tenten!" Kiba waved a hand in front of her while Shikamaru frowned at her. "Where is Ino?"

Tenten smirked at them. "She is at Sakura's house."

She then stroked her chin thoughtfully. "Anyone wants to go house visiting?"

-+-+-+-+-+-

While Ino doesn't know what awaited her, she silently listened to what Mrs. Haruno has to say.

Mrs. Haruno, or Mizu Kazumi, has stopped where Hinata has painstakingly told them about the Mizus a while ago. She was now about to show them the family emblem, which was at the back of her neck…

_(So all that Hinata said really happened…Oh My God.. this is getting freaky.)_

She dilated her eyes with amazement as she stared at the real birthmark when Mrs. Haruno lifted her silvery hair.

It was indeed red in color and it is in the shape of a feather. It was no bigger than the size of an eye.

"That is the Phoenix's feather, which our Elders proclaimed upon true Mizus." Mrs. Haruno stated as she let her hair down again.

"Does Sakura… have that…?" Ino hesitatingly asked, still in the amazed mode.

Mrs. Haruno hesitated, "Yes."

"Yuya has one too, right?" Tsunade interrupted.

Mrs. Haruno hesitated once more. "Yes."

"What is your relationship with Yuya?" Tsunade probed.

"She is my aunt."

"Mrs. Haruno." Tsunade said, starting to feel her patience wearing off. "If you are only going to answer what I ask, then I'm afraid this can't end on expected time."

Mrs. Haruno took a deep breath, knowing exactly what Tsunade wanted to know. But the problem was, she doesn't want to tell. She doesn't want this family matter to roll big.

Tsunade leaned forward, knowing exactly what Mrs. Haruno was thinking. "You can know by me bringing only Ino that I don't want this to sound official. This is Sakura we're talking about. Sakura, your daughter, my beloved apprentice and Ino's best friend since childhood."

Ino nodded eagerly, physically probing Mrs. Haruno to spit it all out.

Mrs. Haruno bit her lip and deciding finally that the cat just has to be out of the bag since now Sakura was alive.

"She is after the Phoenix's sword." Mrs. Haruno said curtly, which caught both guests off the line.

"Huh?" Ino uttered.

"Yuya.. Mizu Yuya is after our family sword." Mrs. Haruno repeated. Seeing that both of them has not uttered a word, Mrs. Haruno continued, "and for that, she created the Nine-tails."

"Nine tails?" Ino asked, totally not understanding what was just said.

"The Nine-tails is a demon fox sealed in the body of Naruto since he was born. Twenty years ago, the Nine-tails appeared in our village and with just a whirl of his one tail, it could caused a devastating earthquake. And because of its overwhelming powers, it has killed many of our people. In fact, our village was nearly wiped out by it but the Fourth Hokage managed to stop it by sealing it in Naruto. It's a secret that the Third has ordered never to reveal to the younger generations like you. He doesn't want Naruto to be ostracized because he contained the murderer of our village."

Tsunade's brief introduction about the Kyuubi caused Ino to be more flabbergasted than she already was.

_(For one thing, I am more than surprised that Mrs. Haruno is actually a true descendent of the powerful Mizu…and now Naruto actually had a monster living inside him for all these years!Man! I'm going to have a breakdown!)_

"Uh huh.." was all Ino can weakly say.

"This all comes down to the Phoenix sword she's been eyeing." Mrs. Haruno chipped in after that, looking at Tsunade. "For generations, only the Mizu with the Phoenix sword is acclaimed to be the head of the clan. In other words, the strongest. The sword itself possesses infinite chakra and has a life of its own. Unbelievably, it chooses its own owner."

Tsunade nodded for her to continue, deciding to leave her questions afterwards.

"The sword is created by our first ancestor, Mizu Yoshiki. He had wanted the sword to pass into the hands of his descendents with the goal of protecting the ones important to the clan but sadly, as the clan grew, some wanted to use it for their own selfish means but fortunately enough, the sword knew the difference between good and evil and so, it managed to stay safe."

"And then?" Ino quizzed, finding all these really amazing. For one, she didn't know Sakura's family is this complicated!

"Then when my grandfather died, the sword chose my father, Mizu Hideto as the next owner. My aunt, Yuya.. she was resentful at that and tried to snatch the sword but as you know, the effort was furtile. Then one day, she got this evil idea in her head.."

Mrs. Haruno stopped then, unable to hold back the tears that was welling up. Ino quickly passed her a tissue in her pockets.

She sniffed and continued, "She created the Nine tails and… and…"

That's it.

Mrs. Haruno broke down in sobs. Tsunade patted her on the back, feeling quite sorry that she has to dig up whatever sorrow memories that was running across her head now.

Mrs. Haruno then took a deep breath and wiped off the tears that rolled down the planes of her cheeks.

"She created the Nine-tails and let it devoured every member of the Mizus at the succession ceremony!"

Ino gasped, covering her mouth with her feeble hand while Tsunade widened her eyes in absolute surprise. She certainly didn't expect this!

"And because the sword _only_ accepts true Mizu lineage, it will have no choice but to accept Yuya as the owner, since she is thought to be the only capable one left." Mrs. Haruno continued in between sobs. "I saw it with my own eyes how it brutally ripped my father apart!... And my mother... her body was soaked in blood when she yelled at me to run!"

By now, Mrs. Haruno's cheeks were thoroughly wet from her overflowing tears. Ino stroked her back while she passed her more tissues from her pockets. Tsunade stared, her brows getting tighter by the second.

"I can't believe _this incident _is still fresh in my mind...As much as I tried to ignore, I can still hear Yuya's vicious laughter echoing in my mind every night! Why is she doing this? Why can't she just let me live my life?" Mrs. Haruno finally blurted.

Ino slumped into the couch. She didn't know what to say to comfort Mrs. Haruno. She didn't know such a sick person would even exist! From the looks of it, it seems that this Yuya was even sicker than Orochimaru. Who would allow a demon to devour your own family?

"Does she know Sakura possess the Mizu blood?" Tsunade asked in concern.

"I supposed she knows."

Tsunade then took in the full impact of the severity of the situation.

"It's my fault. It's my entire fault. I shouldn't have even returned to the clan." Mrs. Haruno stated, tiredly shaking her head. "It's me who led the Kyuubi to Konoha."

Both guests looked at her then. Mrs. Haruno gulped in sweat as she prepared herself to tell the secret that she has been trying all ways to keep.

"I did what my mother told me to. I ran. I ran all the way back to Konoha, to where my new home is. Few months before this incident, I married Haruno Keisuke at the objections of my clan. They barred me as a Mizu shortly after. But then, I missed my mother, my family, so I secretly went back to see them, hoping to also catch a glimpse of much-said succession ceremony. But when I reached, most of the family have already been devoured, only leaving my dead father and my dying mother sprawling on the ground begging mercy from Yuya. When my mother saw me and screamed for me to run, Yuya took notice and sent the Kyuubi after me. _The thing _was in front of me within seconds with Yuya smiling wickedly on top of it. But just when I thought I was a goner, the sword actually saved me! It swept me off the ground and propelled me to run! That's when I took the sword as ran as fast as I could. But the Nine-tails was hot on my heels. When it reached Konoha and couldn't find me, I guessed it went into an uproar and caused the destruction…you should know the rest…" Mrs. Haruno finally concluded.

"So the chakra of the Kyuubi comes from your family." Tsunade said it more like a statement than a question.

_(I know the Mizu clan is strong, but I didn't know they were THAT strong! If they still existed, I reckoned even the Hyuugas would seem small against them.)_

Mrs. Haruno nodded.

"So where is the sword?" Ino asked, since it was the main character of the whole story.

" It has sealed itself up." Mrs. Haruno stated as a matter of fact. " Only when the new owner was chosen will it reveal itself."

"Let's talk about Sakura." Tsunade said with a disturbed frown. "Why do you think Yuya wants Sakura by her side?"

"I think you already know." Mrs Haruno replied, looking straight into Tsunade's concerned eyes. "Which is the thing I fear most. Which is also why I bound her chakra upon birth when I saw the family emblem behind her neck…"

"That was some pretty chakra control you have there. Not too much to obstruct her shinobi life and not too little to reveal your secret." Tsunade commented wryly before saying, "But you unsealed the bind when she was training under me, right?"

Mrs. Haruno nodded. "I see you noticed."

"Wait a minute there…" Ino interrupted, though she knows it's rude to do that. "So what is the reason that Yuya wants Sakura by her side?"

Mrs. Haruno straightened her shoulders. "She is the next chosen one."


	4. Devil's Triangle

**Chapter 4 - Devil's Triangle**

**The irony of destiny...

* * *

**

Sakuya opened her eyes and looked around.

She was still in her bedroom, in her own bed.

She sits up slowly as she runs a frustrated hand over her tousled cherry hair. It had come loose about an hour ago and was plastered in sweaty tendrils against her neck.

"I must have fallen asleep…" Sakuya uttered as she brings her feet closer to her chest, thinking about the recurring dream she just had.

Recently, she would always enter into a dream of darkness. Inside, she would feel isolated. And the pitch-black would be too sterile to devoid even the soft whisper of someone else's breath. Inside, she was pretty sure she was the only living thing. Then sudden bright beams of lights would always penetrate their way ahead of her, making her eyes squirmed at the glaring rays. But she would always follow the light and a magnificent purplish sword in glowing red hot flames would always appear at the end of the light. And when she stood right in front of it, the flames would form into a head of a Phoenix and says, "It's time. Come to me."

Then she would wake up.

But contrary to her previous dreams, this time, when the words are uttered, the sword was immediately interrupted by a voice which sounded quite like her own.

"SHANNARO! LET ME OUT!" The seemingly irate voice hollered, followed by the sound of someone banging hard on the bars.

She ventured to her left, where the source of bellowing came from and came across her replica sprawling on the damp ground behind bars with a shimmering talisman right in the middle. Her twin glared at her while she studied her from head down. She had the same hair length and color as her, long pinkish tresses that reached all the way to her waist but just that she looked much more disheveled than Sakuya herself. Her hair was in a total mess while dirt grimed all over her body. She also wore this forehead protector bearing the Leaf symbol on her head. She was breathing hard against the humid atmosphere as she slowly pulled herself up, relief flashing across her weary face as she lunged at the bars, which startled Sakuya, causing her to falter a few steps back.

"You are finally here!" The twin then cried, pressing her haggard face against the cold hard bars. "Let me out!"

"How?" Sakuya retorted, shaking her head to clear her congested thoughts as she asked, "Who are you?"

"I am YOU, BAKA!" The look-alike snapped, before slapping on that wide forehead of hers. "I can't believe you are stupider than Naruto!"

"Naruto…" Sakuya uttered the name with qualm. Her twin sounded as though she knew this Naruto fellow well.

"Forget about that silly guy for now! I can't stand being in this cage any longer! Now get ME OUT OF HERE!"

"How?" Sakuya asked again, her eyes darting around nervously. Man! That was some temper she has there!

"There! Tear off that talisman!" The twin stated enthusiastically, pointing her feeble index finger at the daunting seal just diagonal above her.

"Why can't you tear it off yourself?" Sakuya quipped, feeling skeptical with this clone of hers.

"Because my chakra is drained! Oh my God! I can't believe I'm losing myself for me, myself and I!"

Sakuya frowned dryly at her wonderful use of words but decided to do it anyway. She doesn't know why but she knows she just got to do it. Her twin beamed with anticipation as she focused her chakra on one hand and reached for the daunting seal.

But when she felt her touch on the seal, she was harshly blown away…

That's when she woke up.

Running her hand over her face in frustration, Sakuya reached for the pitcher on her nightstand, which was scattered with photographs and reports for the mission she is going to undertake. She had carelessly scattered the documents while she was reading through the file earlier.

Two pictures caught her eye then.

One was Uzumaki Naruto and the other was…

"Uchiha… Sasuke?" Sakuya slumped back onto her bed while taking a sip of water that she just poured herself.

_(An Uchiha, like Itachi… interesting. Never knew that fellow has family…)_

When Sakuya first saw Itachi, she was instantly attracted to him. She didn't know why but Itachi reminds her of someone… someone whom she can't remember…

She felt the mollifying water glide down her gullet as she holds up the two pictures in one hand, centering her focus on the raven-haired boy, wondering how and why she overlooked his details just now.

"Uchiha Sasuke." Sakuya read out aloud. "The sole survivor of the strong noble Uchiha clan in Konoha after it was annihilated by…"

Sakuya trailed off as she blinked two times, making sure she was reading the right name. "… Uchiha… Itachi…?" Sakuya uttered the name with disbelief.

Itachi killed his _whole_ family? That was certainly… ruthless.

She always knew Itachi was ruthless but she didn't know he was ruthless to _that_ extent.

Reading on, she got to the details of Sasuke's profile.

"One of the genius shinobis in Konoha. As a Genin, he was the number one rookie in his batch." Sakuya recited, thinking perhaps blood do runs in families. "Possess the Sharingan, the Uchiha Advanced Bloodline Ability. The other abilities he possesses include the Lion Combo, Shadow Leaf Dance, Shadow Shuriken, the Fire Elements as well as the Chidori."

There were no details given as to how these skills worked but Sakuya reckoned Yuya knew she _reads a lot_, that's why she didn't bother with the details.

"Teamed up with Naruto and Sakura in Team Seven during his Gennin years." Sakuya quirks a curious eyebrow at that.

"A serious cool guy who doesn't talk much. Status… M… I… A." Sakuya drawled the last two words, and then she read the words in brackets. "Supposedly now a apprentice under Orochimaru."

A feeling of grief stabbed her as she stared at the picture of the boy with sharp eyes. In response, she let the two photographs gravitate, shuts her eyes tight and brings her clenched fists close to her heart.

_(My heart aches… Why…? Why is this I'm feeling…?)_

She brushed off this feeling aside and opened her eyes with an irritated frown as she grabbed the two photos again.

She looked at the blonde first. "Uzumaki Naruto."

Then averts to the raven-haired. "Uchiha Sasuke."

Then at the corner of her eyes, she caught the photo of the only girl in their group.

She picks up that photo from amidst the many and slides it in between the two, regarding the three together.

"Team seven huh…?" Mizu Sakuya murmured the name with distaste.

-+-+-+-+-+-

After bidding farewell with Mrs. Haruno and her sensei, Yamanaka Ino literally trudged her way home.

She was exhausted. Mentally and physically.

She had a long day and all she craves now is her bed.

Ten minutes later, she brought a halt of her sluggish footsteps in front of her porch, frowning with displeasure at the nine pairs of blue sandals sitting neatly side by side. She looked up and saw the lights of her house were still on.

Her frown deepened.

She fumbled for her keys in the pockets and was to reach for the doorknob when her oak door creaked, revealing a grinning Tenten by the door.

"I knew it was you!" Tenten greeted, "Come on in!" as she nudged Ino into the house.

Ino face-faulted then.

This is _her_ house for crying out loud!

"What do you want?" Ino rasped, though she already guessed out her comrade's motive for being here in her house at this hour.

It's ten past ten.

"Well…" Tenten's eyes brightened. "I think you know."

Ino rolled her eyes, took off her sandals and tossed it unceremoniously at the sides. "Tadaima!"

Then she turned to Tenten. "All I know now is that I want to get my well-deserved sleep. And-"

"Ino!" Mrs. Yamanaka interrupted, appearing with a tray of sake from the kitchen. "You are back finally! Your friends have been waiting for you since dinner!"

Ino thought about it for a second. "That's their business. I'm going to bed."

With that, she started towards her bedroom. Tenten trailed behind her while Mrs. Yamanaka simply shrugged.

"Come on, Ino!" Tenten protested.

"GOOD EVENING, INO-CHAN!" Her _group of friends_ greeted her as she crossed the living room.

Ino grimaced at the sound of them. She inhaled sharply and snapped, "GO HOME ALREADY!"

"What have I done to deserve such a surly daughter…" Mr. Yamanaka drawled, as he sipped his sake in the middle of the group.

Ino gave a groan of frustration. "Whatever! I'm going to.. ehaarrgghhh!"

She was pushed into her room by a bunch of hands before she could help it. She turned and saw eight pairs of eagerly eyes on her.

She gulped in sweat.

Hinata stood by the doorway and gave a polite nod to the Yamanaka parents. "I apologize on behalf of our group, having to drop by till this late."

"It's alright." Mr. Yamanaka smiled, waving a half-hearted hand at Hinata as he took another sip of his sake. "You guys have fun!"

Mrs. Yamanaka nodded in agreement.

Hinata smiled and gave another bow in respect, before closing the door behind her.

"What are you guys doing? This is my bedroom, for God's sake!" Hinata immediately heard Ino's ranting once inside the room.

Her pal was surrounded by eight well-known jounin-level shinobis from Konoha.

"Come on, Ino-chan!" Naruto bypassed Ino's protest. "Tell us! What did Tsunade-obachan want with Sakura's mother?"

"You will know tomorrow!" Ino retorted and fall lazily on her bed, grabbing her pillow to cover her throbbing head.

"We want to know now!" Tenten argued, pulling a dead-tired Ino up.

Ino groaned in frustration and undid her blonde ponytail, letting them cascade elegantly down her shoulders.

Somebody propping against the window frame thought that looked enthralling.

"Shikamaru!" Kiba said impatiently with a scowl. "Stop having your head in the clouds already!"

Shika frowned back and straightened his shoulders. "I don't see why we're doing this… if there is something we should know, the Fifth will tell us tomorrow."

All nine heads turned towards him then as he realized the folly of his actions. Did he just help Ino?

_(Say something to get yourself out of this troublesome situation, Shikamaru!)_

Shikamaru then gave a deliberate cough and said, "Don't you guys agree?"

The guys seemed to ponder that for a moment.

Then Naruto turned to Ino. "So… Ino-chan, what did Tsunade-obachan want with Mrs. Haruno?"

Immediately, all seven heads nodded eagerly in unison, probing Ino to tell.

Shikamaru face-faulted while Ino lowered her head in exasperation, thinking there's no way they will let her off until she tells them all of it.

"Well…" Ino started to say, looking blue on blue at Naruto. "It's a long story."

-+-+-+-+-+-

Tsunade gazed into the starry night, particularly on the crescent moon that was covered vaguely with passing wool.

_(Is their destinies inevitably… like us..?)_

Tsunade questioned herself and decided it's a deadlock situation. It's two against one in her case and two against one in Naruto's.

It's like a grudge passing down to the next generation…

"If you were still alive, what would you say to me… Dan?" Tsunade murmured, closing her eyes, absorbing the stillness of the night.

Days when Sakura was her apprentice runs across her mind like yesterday.

"Tsunade-sensei! I did it!" Sakura's animated voice echoed in her mind. She had successfully revived a dying fish from one of the ponds.

Sakura's exceptional progression in just three months into the one-to-one training amazed her then.

If truth be told, she actually missed Sakura calling her 'sensei.'

If truth be told, her talents actually surpassed Shizune, or perhaps even herself.

If truth be told, she is actually the one, out of the five pupils, including Shizune, to be the successor of her title – _THE_ medical specialist.

Because out of the Four excluding Shizune, Sakura is actually the only one specializing into the area of medics, with Ino and Hinata concentrating most of their time into their family jutsus while Tenten is more like a weapon specialist.

And because of that as well as her own talent, Sakura inherited the most of her skills out of the four official pupils.

Tsunade recalls the day she tries to teach her four pupils the Summoning Technique. Though she doubted then that they might not be ready for it, since it was only three months since the formation of the four-man team and it requires large amount of chakra to be able to call upon a giant animal-demon to aid you in a battle.

She asked them to think about a favorite animal then.

Ino's answer was Cat.

Tenten's answer was Hawk.

Hinata's answer was Squirrel.

She still remembers Sakura was hesitant in her answer before she says, "Hmm.. I don't know if it is considered an animal or whether it even existed, but I like Phoenix."

Why didn't she think of it then?

Instead, she dismissed it by summoning Katsuyu, wowing her four pupils with it as the five of them stood on top of the meek Slug Queen.

"Everyone, meet Katsuyu, my summoned animal." She said proudly. "Katsuyu, meet my four students, Tenten, Ino, Sakura and Hinata."

The four girls were still in amazed mode as Katsuyu greeted softly, "Nice to meet you four. Your four students are very cute, Tsunade-sama."

She smirked and said, "Yeah.. But I hope their honey isn't too sweet to attract distracting bees to hinder their trainings though."

The three of them lowered their heads guiltily while Sakura looked at them unknowingly. The three of them had been _up to their sleeves_ without Sakura's knowledge, since she was busy in the Konoha hospital as well as her own training all the while.

Sakura brushed if off, deciding to leave questions later and turned to Tsunade. "How does this Summoning Technique work?"

Tsunade sat cross-legged as she explained with a bored voice, "You make contracts with animals using your blood. It is a type of temporal-spatial technique where you can call them up anytime you want, but mostly during battles where you need their aid. That's why I asked you four to think about your favourite animals. You guys wouldn't want to work with animals you detest, wouldn't you?"

The four nodded in understanding while Tsunade continued, "But this technique drains most of your chakra. So unless it is an emergency, I would advise not to use this technique unless you're sure that you still have some reserve left. Because you would still need chakra to work with them."

"So Tsunade-sama, they're not signing the contract today?" Katsuyu interjected.

"Nope." Tsunade answered readily. "At least not the official one. I don't think they are ready for it."

"What contract?" Ino asked in between.

"The contract of the slugs for summoning purposes." Katsuyu replied. "Where you have to write your name with your blood in the scroll and then imprint your bloody palm as a signature beneath your name. Only then will I be summoned by you, anytime, anywhere. This is a sort of agreement in black and white."

"Yeah." Tsunade continued from there. "But you can sign on the unofficial one, where it states that you can summon the slugs for practice purposes. I warn ypu though, different animals have different ways of taming and so… Ah!" Tsunade stopped herself, thinking she might be saying too much, since none of them are ready yet.

"Anyway, the seal for the summoning technique is the Boar, the Dog, the Bird, the Monkey and the Sheep."

Her four pupils then signed on the unofficial contract handed over from Katsuyu's mouth.

"Well! We shall call it a day today! I will be busy for the rest of the week, so see you guys in one week's time!" Tsunade chirpy concluded while eyeing the four intently. "Don't forget to train. I'll be watching you though I'll be busy with my work."

The Four nodded before disappearing in a whoosh.

One week later, Sakura surprised all of them by meeting them atop of Katsuyu.

As expected from my apprentice. Tsunade thought then.

"You should be turning in now, Tsunade-sama." Shizune's appearance by the office pulled Tsunade back to reality.

"Hn." Tsunade answered boredly before turning her attention back outside the window.

"How's everything going?" Shizune asked in concern, noting that Tsunade is disturbed.

"This is troublesome." Tsunade admitted, pulling her gaze up to meet the crescent moon hanging clandestinely behind the vague wool.


	5. The Shadow of The Moon Where It All Beg...

**Chapter 5: The Shadow of The Moon **

**The Beginning of The End or The End of The Beginning?

* * *

**

"Have you got the details?" Yuya's mellifluous voice lingered in the air until Sakuya stepped out from the shadows.

The crescent moon hung high above them through the skylight; shafting beams of moonlight into the lounge they're in.

"Yes." Came Sakuya's one-word answer.

A curve was formed at the corner of her lips as Yuya said, "Good. Come here."

Sakuya casts fleeting glances at the other three present Akatsuki members standing at the sides before striding her steps to stand right in front of Yuya.

"Here's the plan…" Yuya murmured, flashing her violet orbs intently on Sakuya's emerald ones.

Then Sakuya saw it. She saw the swift movement of Yuya's right hand thrusting right into her chest, particularly aiming for her heart.

_(The organ-wrenching technique… …)_ Sakuya realized mentally and damned herself for letting her guard down.

The organ-wrenching technique is a type of close range genjutsu where the user thrusts his hand right into any part of the victim's body, wrecking the intended vital organ with killing chakra molded on his hand. The speed for using this technique must be super fast in order to achieve the desirable result - instant death with your targeted organ ruined or worse… pulled out.

Sakuya grimaced with pain. In her case, Yuya is playing with her. She tried to speak, but the ever tightening of her chest forbids her to do so. She chokes instead, rising her feeble hands to grasp Yuya's.

Yuya then slanted her body wittingly towards Sakuya, her hand still clutching playfully on her heart, whispering, "You overheard our conversation about your real identity as one of Konoha's kunoichi, Haruno Sakura. From it, you realized that you were nothing but just a puppet to Mizu Yuya. You were shocked… devastated… lost… and what's worse..?" Yuya emited a snicker that kind of scared Sakuya.. Then she finally releases her deathly grip on Sakuya's heart, sending her sprawling on the ground, gasping desperately for breaths.

"You couldn't remember any of the single events you overheard and guess what…?" Yuya crouched down with her head slightly tilted to look at a pallid Sakuya innocently.

"You were discovered."

Right after Yuya's statement, a couple of shurikens darted towards her. Sakuya immediately leaped away from where she was with noticeably slowed speed; as her body was still not ready, resulting one of it slitting her left thigh, sending vivid redness spurting out of it.

Sakuya scowled. Her blood has turned black already.

_(It's coated with poison…) _Sakuya realized.

Her eyes perfunctorily darted towards Itachi, who is still standing at the side – unmoved.

"You have no time to look away, _Sakura_." Her attacker sneered, especially emphasizing on the name.

It was Seira. A vicious kunoichi who wasn't as vulnerable as she looks, and she attacks using hair empowered by her chakra. She was the type where all men will be drawn to her naturally with her 'needing-protection' look. Sakuya wondered why she used shurikens this time but suddenly a raw realization hit her.

That it wasn't Seira who shot the shurikens at her just now.

It was Itachi.

_(Damn that # fellow!) _Sakura cursed in her mind as she dodges a series of hair attacks from Seira.

At of the corner of her eyes, she could see Yuya smiling in a hentai way below them, with her hands tucked behind her back. Then Sakuya saw something sharp flash across her eyes and not long after, she felt excruciating pain on her right arm.

She shrieked the pain out loud.

Her flawless smooth skin on her right arm was slashed… almost ripped off by a weapon called _Samehada_.

She damned herself again for being distracted.

Kisame smirked dangerously behind her before she quickly dodges another immediate hair attack from Seira from the front, which the latter shows no leniency in hitting Sakuya's vital body parts by shooting strands of lethal hair directly at Sakuya.

Sakuya landed quite adroitly on the ground, barely steps away from Yuya, who have made herself comfortable on her fuzzy white couch by having one leg crossed over another.

Sakuya glowers at her.

She is sure guarded against this temperamental woman behind her now. And things are certainly not looking good.

She is now faced with three… no! four extreme shinobis with her own defense creeping away from her. The suppressed poison from the shuriken was beginning to act up and she has no time to heal herself from it.

She twisted her lips as she draws one conclusion.

She hated Haruno Sakura.

She hated being her.

But Sakuya hastily pushed that thought aside and instead, did a quick evaluation of the situation she's in.

_(Confronting them now would be foolish… the only way out now is…)_

As if reading her mind, Yuya rose from her couch and whiz right behind Sakuya, murmuring, "Shadowed by tragedy and burdened by amnesia… what would you do now, _Sakura_? What would you do when only the word _Konoha_ rings in your head…?"

Sakuya bit her lip. She knows the answer alright. But what was disturbing her was Yuya's unbelievable speed. She had only known Yuya has crept up behind her when she heard her voice.

_(So many years and our differences are still so wide…? If she was to attack.. Wouldn't I be…)_

"Look out…" Yuya's melodious soft voice warned behind her.

Sakuya immediately perked up as her eyes caught Kisame diving his Samehada straight at her. Blood splatter all over when the saber-like weapon stabbed seemingly through her abdomen.

But then Kisame winced. Then blood spewed nastily from his gap.

"The technique-reversal technique… …" Kisame realized and plunges to the ground from the wound _in his abdomen_.

The technique-reversal technique is a genjutsu where the user channels the techniques used on him back to the attacker.

Oblivious to Kisame, Sakuya had formed the seal of this technique and escaped…

Yuya licked the splattered blood off her lips amusingly as she turns her attention to the silhouette outside the window, leaping further and further away from tree to tree.

"Seira." Yuya said with her back facing the stunned kunoichi. "Escort Sakura on her journey back home."

The scantily-dressed kunoichi lowers her head in understanding and vanish abruptly into the air.

"Damn it, Yuya!" Kisame dragged himself up with the help of his Samehada as he spits, "What the hell have you been training her!"

"You know…" A pair of sharp violet eyes greeted him as he felt his cells rejuvenating inside him by a pair of healing hands.

"Blood do run in families."

Yuya then averted her gaze intently at Itachi, who meets her violet orbs with his crimson ones.

"You do know what I mean, don't you… Itachi?"

"Are you referring to Sasuke?" Itachi answered with his usual remote politeness.

Yuya shrugged and walked away from Kisame, who is back to normal.

"He's been trying to bring you down over the years…" Yuya's voice was somewhat irritated. "Why don't you do him a favor and get this family feud over and done with…?"

Itachi remained silent. But inwardly, he knows Yuya's forbearance for this younger brother of his has reached the max. Over the years, Sasuke has been ceaselessly targeting at their members to draw him out, thus wrecking most of the plans that the Akatsuki has in mind. Out of the now eleven members, only Sakuya is spared from the agony of the infamous Sharingan.

But Itachi knew better.

The Uchihas never spared.

He simply doesn't know the existence of Mizu Sakuya. To hold on her promise to Itachi that _he_ _would be the one_ to kill Sasuke, Yuya had left him alone, allowing his rampant actions against the Akatsuki and instead, created Sakuya and kept her discreetly secret all these years, reserving her only for utmost missions.

"So?" Yuya's light-hearted but questioning voice interrupted him.

"He is still not strong enough to fight me." Itachi said as a matter of fact.

"So when will he be strong enough?" Yuya retorted with a hint of displeasure. "When Orochimaru gets his body?" Yuya eyed Itachi carefully. "For all I know, it's time again for him to perform that jutsu and this time! …"

Yuya's sudden raising of her voice startled Kisame a little.

"I don't want my cherry to be involved."

Itachi quirked an eyebrow. Yuya was bothered alright.

Yuya exhaled sharply as she looked at the handsome elder Uchiha. "Your cute little brother proves to be one big pain in the ass for my cute little niece."

"I thought you had performed that jutsu on her?" Kisame interjected from the side.

"Sasuke-kun is still going strong in her mind." Yuya said in point of fact. "There is this slight possibility that memories might be revoked if she meets him again…"

Yuya paused intentionally and runs a hand languidly through her long silvery hair. "…At the expense of her life, that is."

Kisame scowled while Itachi remained deadpan.

"As I said… Naruto is different from yesteryears. We had dragged this mission long enough for him to become what he is today. If we were to get the Kyuubi this time, Sasuke-kun must be out of the way."

"If you get what I mean, gentlemen." Yuya concluded.

"Understood." The Uchiha prodigy stated.

-+-+-+-+-+-

Sakuya was getting tired now. She has been on the move for close ten hours and has struggled for a solid nine. The sun shone bright and strong on her, making her perspire down to her toes. Her skintight red and black combat outfit has plastered doggedly on her skin, making her all the more irritated.

_(What kind of stupid plan is this… …?)_

She had to get out of the sun, she concluded. She had to find someplace shady and relatively safe for the day before she dies of dehydration and exhaustion prior reaching Konoha.

Sakuya inspected her surroundings. Below her was too open. Above her proved much of a hassle to leap. The only ideal area would be one of the concealed branches up ahead.

She sighed as she landed wearily on one of the branches, taking a moment to rest. She looked at her bruised left thigh as well as her injured right arm. Then she flinched from the vehement callings from her body.

Not a place on her body was left unhurt.

She tried to heal herself among the thick canopy of trees in crowded darkness nine hours ago, only to find another attacker waiting silently for her in one of them.

Gaara of the Desert. If she remembered correctly. A kind of transient shocked expression was registered on his face when he met her face to face but it was not long after he launched his attacks using sand from his Goddamn gourd.

His sand caught her left leg on one of the spars, and nearly crippled her if not for her quick wittedness.

Then that damned Seira took advantage. She would always strike right after Gaara, shooting strands of her damned hair right at Sakuya's wounded areas.

But then, Gaara would actually nullify her attacks and tried striking Sakuya himself, thus creating chances for Sakuya to escape when the two started to argue who would actually be the rightful one to kill her.

Then, after struggling for God knows how long from the two, Itachi and Kisame, out of the blue, joined in! Talking about adding more odds into her situation!

But again, Gaara would nullify their attacks and started attacking her himself.

Sakuya breathed heavily as she felt the poison spreading through her body. At this rate, she is really going to die. She shook her head.

_(Focus! I need to focus!) _

She molded healing chakra in her hands and began to draw out the poison in her left thigh when she heard some shuffled voices. She immediately plastered herself close on the tree trunk to prevent herself from being detected.

"She couldn't have gone up far."

Sakuya rolled her eyes upon hearing Seira's seductive voice.

"She must be in hiding nearby."

Sakuya frowned upon that voice. _(Yuya must have healed Kisame…)_

And damn her for that.

A a cold tetchy voice was next, which she reckoned was Gaara. "Tell me before I kill you, you Uchiha bastard! Who is she?"

"You overestimated your ability." came a same-level cold reply.

"DAMN YOU!" Sakuya heard Gaara spat and the sound of sand whooshing here and there was then heard.

_(Just a bit more…)_ Sakuya darted her focus frantically between her thigh and her surroundings. _(Don't come here until I'm healed…)_

Just as Sakuya was concentrating between detecting their exact locations and healing herself, a kunai suddenly flew towards her and she in the quickest response, leaped off from the branch and landed on the open ground.

But the kunai did slit past her right cheek. Sakuya wiped off the blood from her cheek and stared at her blood-stained finger.

_(Damn! I was so distracted that I didn't notice that!)_

She scowled upfront. Then she blinked.

She has expected to be any of her four attackers but what was happening in front of her was certainly out of her anticipation.

A raven-haired young man with sharp crimson eyes was fending off attacks from his adversary. Upon closer look, Sakuya realized his adversary was actually one of the Sound dogs. Visible injuries were inflicted all over him. Is Kimimaro his name? Sakuya couldn't care less, for her attention was fully captured by the tall raven-haired stranger. Contrary to that Sound shinobi, the cool stranger looks… fine. His clothes were not even soiled. Despite his fatigued outlook, Sakuya noticed he's got attractive features and not to say, his resemblance to someone she knows is uncanny.

Especially his eyes.

Sakuya reckoned he must have traveled through the night too because till now, his weariness fails him to acknowledge her presence as he scowls at his persistent pursuer in front of him.

_(The kunai might have flown to my direction accidentally… He has the Sharingan… Could he be…)_

"Distracted seems to be your middle name." Seira murmured sarcastically behind her out of the blue.

Sakuya gasped and immediately leaped away from where she was as she faced the kunoichi once more.

She looked at her left thigh. It was _almost_ healed if not for the accidental attack. But she could feel her strength is returning.

She smirked.

-+-+-+-+-

Sasuke turned slightly to see the pink-haired kunoichi sparing with the red-haired one. His frown deepened. From his view, she looked too much like someone he knows.

Or knew.

Whatever.

He had spotted her from afar when she was on the branch healing herself and he threw a kunai at her to warn her of the approaching threat.

He doesn't know why he did that. His hand just moved by his own.

He focused on his situation. He was getting tired now. He's been on the move for close ten hours already, bringing four out of the Five Sound down during the first hour. This Kimimaro proved to be persistent despite the injuries inflicted upon him. With the sun shining bright and strong on him, Sasuke mused whether he was being soft on him for the past nine hours. His blue and black combat outfit plastered doggedly on his skin, making him all the more irritated at the throbbing beating of his head.

He damned himself for letting his guard down last night. He was drugged. By Kabuto. That slick bastard had offered him sake, and began reminiscing past events to him, making him all worked up and gulped the whole sake down.

"Blazing Fireball!" Sasuke uttered and spited out hell of a fire out of his mouth.

Kimimaro barely dodged and appeared alongside in Sakuya's arena.

"Blazing Fireball!" Sasuke executed again and aimed at the arena.

Sakuya scowled. The fire was coming straight at her! What the hell was the man thinking? She leaped away amidst her fight with a burnt sleeve and yelled at Sasuke. "Watch your fire, mister!"

Seira striked immediately as soon as she said that, which she successfully dodged and landed on an area filled with…well, unusual sand.

She looked at the sand._ (This is not good.)_

And indeed, the sand started to bind her feet as soon as she tried to escape. She winced at the pain her feet were causing her and fall to her knees. But suddenly, the sand started to corrode, with black fire burning aggressively atop of it.

Suspiciously, Itachi appeared beside her and helped her up from her back.

"You get going now." Itachi said with a soft voice.

Sakuya made the mistake of looking into his eyes as she saw the three commas of the Sharingan spinning.

_(The Tsukiyomi… …?)_

It's too late when Sakuya realized it.

Sakuya looked around. She couldn't recognize the place she was in. She's like in a portal where time and place have ceased to exist.

"Sakuya."

Sakuya twirled around to find Itachi standing behind her. She opened her mouth to say something but was stopped by another Itachi calling her from the back.

"Sakura."

"Sakuya." The first Itachi repeated.

"Sakura." The clone repeated too.

"Sakuya."

"Sakura."

"Sakuya."

"Sakura."

"Sakuya."

"Sakura."

Sakuya shrieked her frustration and covered her ears to block out the confusing addressing of her.

"Who exactly are you?" One of them spoke after a brief silence.

"Sakuya!" Sakuya answered immediately.

"No. You are Sakura." The other Itachi contradicted her. "One of Konoha's strongest kunoichi. You were made use by the Akatsuki.. by Yuya… You were just a puppet."

Sakuya was about to retort when she heard a voice inside her.

_(Shannaro! He was damn right about that! You are Sakura! Haruno Sakura of Konahagure!)_

As soon as the voice faded, Sakuya felt a sharp pain in her head that stretched all the way down her neck. She grabbed the back of her head desperately as her knees gave way to the pain and cringe repulsively on the ground.

"No. You are Sakuya." The other Itachi agreed meanwhile. "An Akatsuki member whose powers are infinite. You were a spy from them. A spy to Konoha to get the Kyuubi back."

Sakuya wanted to agree but the voice inside her prevent her from doing it so.

_(He's lying! You are Haruno Sakura!)_

_(He's not! You are Mizu SakuYA!)_

Or voiceS inside her that prevent her from doing it so…

_(I'm a spy to Konoha to get the Kyuubi back! Ignore that baka bitch, Sakuya!)_

_(Who are you calling bitch, BITCH! Sakura! She's trying to invade our mind! Do something before she succeeds!)_

Sakuya scratched hard on her head, almost ripping her hair off as she tried to get these voices out of her head… but they just kept on coming and coming… and coming and coming…

"Sakuya."

"Sakura."

"Sakuya."

"Sakura."

"Sakuya."

"Sakura."

Intolerable to the inner and outer intense psychological agony of whom exactly was she anymore, Sakuya finally passed out…

-+-+-+-+-

Not from afar, a team of shinobis with the forehead protector bearing the Leaf symbol was concealed among the canopy of trees, quietly observing the group of wanted shinobis fighting out each other.

"Kakashi, isn't that..?"

"Yeah. I know."

Gai narrowed his eyes at the pink-haired kunoichi collapsing on the ground. He knew Kakashi saw it too. She has just been attacked by Itachi's Tsukiyomi but the million dollar question was… doesn't she look too much like Kakashi's former Team Seven member, one of Konoha's Four - Haruno Sakura?

"What do we do now?" Kurenai whispered beside them.

"Wait." Came Kakashi's terse reply.

However calm Kakashi might sound, Gai knew he was uptight to witness the scene too. They had never expected to encounter them. He, Kakashi, Anko, Kurenai and Shigure, their medic were on their way back from their mission when they heard strange noises nearby. That's when they decided to check it out. And man, what a chaotic fight they found…

"Uchiha Itachi, you finally shown yourself! Meet your doom!"

The five jounins heard Sasuke's roar when the youth detected the murderer of his clan in close proximity. Itachi just stood there, unmoved, holding on to the already collapsed Sakuya's right hand in his left.

Sakuya stirred and slowly got her lethargic eyes open when she saw a shadow above her. She suddenly felt herself being yanked to her feet as she stared into the Sharingan again.

She screamed.

-+-+-+-+-

Anko and Kurenai gasped mind-bogglingly as they witnessd the scene of the pink-haired lass being attacked the second time by the Sharingan. Uchiha Sasuke had charged at his brother at full speed, but the sly elder Uchiha had dodged, yanking the poor girl up to be his shield.

Kakashi stiffened. Maybe they shouldn't have waited. It's been what? Eight years? Eight years down the road and his former student still remained as vengeful as before… or perhaps, it has gotten worse…

He recognized the feeling throbbing within him now.

Disappointment.

He quickly brushed that aside. Shinobis are not allowed to feel any emotions. Expecially not when there are so many menaces around.

But truth be told, his heart went out for the pink-haired girl, not to say her uncanny resemblance to his another former student, Sakura. Or maybe, she was Sakura. Kakashi had heard rumors through the grapevines that Sakura had survived and is serving the Akatsuki now. Although no official announcement was made from the Fifth, most conjectured the rumor to be true. But either way, she wasn't going to survive now, he concluded.

He closed his eyes as he recognized another feeling throbbing within him now.

Sorrow.

He had never expected them to turn out the way they did and he felt responsible for it.

His brows furrowed into a disturbed frown as a realization smack him in his face.

He had failed as Team Seven's sensei.

-+-+-+-+-

Sasuke cursed. Everything happened too fast and all he can do was to go along with it since he had already executed his Tsukiyomi. He doesn't want to waste it on this pathetic, half-dead woman though, as the technique drained most of his chakra, which wasn't going to help in his battle with Itachi.

Four words described his helplessness.

It was too late.

Sakuya staggered in her steps.

What was this goddamn place? Darkness loomed all over and she stretches out her hands for directions, only to realize she can't even see her fingers, which means…

She was as good as blind.

She collapsed to the cold hard ground in fatigue and quivered uncontrollably caused by the previous attack. She felt as if life was slowly draining away from her as she noticed she is in the same portal where time and place ceased to exist.

"I will die." Sakuya murmured with a sense of finality.

"You might as well be."

A voice interjected with a hint of arrogance and sarcasm.

Sakuya did not bother to ask who he was, for she already knows. Instead, she remained silent, saving her dignity till her last breath.

Sasuke's brows furrowed into a knot. Usually, his victims would scream for his mercy but she… a Sakura look-alike actually muted herself till what Saksuke surmised her last breath.

Whatever.

Better to get things over and done with.

But involuntarily, he hesitated. She looked too much like Sakura and it was upsetting him. He never imagined killing Sakura… ever. Speaking of which, he wondered why would not.

But the fact stayed.

He caused Sakura's death. She had died for him.

Suppressing the emotions aside, Sasuke focused on the task at hand.

He has to kill Itachi.

He cleared his throat. "You will wander around here for eternity; no one will be able to find you... ever."

No response from her.

Sasuke felt his anger rising up. She made him look like a fool. Itachi would probably deride him at how weak his Tsukiyomi to not able to strike terror in his victims.

_(Genjutsu… this is all genjutsu…. Focus, Sakura! You can do it!)_

_(Damn it, Sakuya! Focus! You know you don't want to die!)_

Sakuya felt suicidal upon the emergence of these two voices in her head again. But suddenly, the excruciating pain in her left lung tore her away from them. She choked as she stared at the cold Sharingan eyes.

"For the next hour, your organs will be removed one by one until your last breath."

She felt implausible when she saw her lung was extracted out from her body. She quivered even more uncontrollably as she felt another of her lung being removed from her body.

She felt her own body bathing in her blood as she felt her heart being removed this time. She tried to speak but the pain was searing her throat. Sakuya used all the strength she could to grasp Sasuke's hands but the brutal treatments proved too overwhelming to overcome as her hands fall to her sides.

Feebly, Sakuya felt déjà vu against the threatening throbbing of her head now.

She felt the same feeling again.

The feeling of grief… sorrow when she studied the photo of Uchiha Sasuke. But this time, the feeling got more intense as she stared into the Sharingan eyes.

Tears started to trickle down her cheeks unknowingly as Sasuke started to recognize every bit of Sakuya's expressions.

"Sa..suke-kun." Sakuya finally managed to utter.

Uchiha Sasuke froze.

-+-+-+-+-

Sasuke froze the moment he heard his name. He withdrew the Sharingan technique immediately as his dilated eyes centered on the lifeless woman in his arms.

He swiftly skipped up a few branches carrying Sakuya when he felt Kimimaro nearing them from his back.

Sasuke swallowed. He was losing her. He could feel Sakuya slipping deeper into the hands of death – a woman who once escaped death and didn't expect to get that lucky again.

Suddenly, he felt like yelling at her… … to hang on.

"Sakura…" he murmured instead and gave the young woman a shake of her shoulders.

He didn't get the response he wanted.

"She's already dead."

Sasuke looked up and saw Anko and her team not afar from him.

He looks disapprovingly at Kakashi.

"Sasuke." Kakashi greeted. Well, sort of… with his cold hard eyes.

Kakashi averted his gaze to Sakuya lying lifelessly on Sasuke's thighs and doubted again, his decision to wait. But then, he suddenly sensed foreign chakra and looks to his right.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" Kisame interrupted, appearing alongside with Itachi and Seira at his sides on one of the nearby branches.

"The famous copy ninja, Hatake Kakashi…" Seira smirked, readying herself to attack. "What an honor."

"Stop it, Seira, Kisame.." Itachi said. "We have accomplished our intentions."

The atmosphere suddenly hit the peak of somberness as the wind blew softly against their skins.

Sasuke glared at Itachi, who returned his glare with his stoic stare.

Seira glanced over at the still Sakuya and snorted.

"What did you want with Sakura?" Kakashi asked, posing the question to the three Akatsuki members in front of him.

"She found out things she wasn't meant to know." Itachi answered and brushed his strands of grayish hair against the caressing breeze.

"Make yourself clear!" Gai interjected.

"Four years ago, she was brainwashed… yet somehow, she got to learn of her real identity and wanted to return to Konoha."

"Of course we can't allow that." Kisame chipped in smirking.

"You bastards…" Anko spat and looked over at Sakuya.

Blood trickled from her mouth then, which Sasuke hastily wiped it off with his hands. A traitor as he was, Anko thought he still have that humane part in him after all.

Sasuke digested the information he just received and once again, stared at his former comrade in his arms. Seriously, he can't believe what Itachi just said really happened to Sakura.

And somehow, it pissed him off.

"Our job is done. We shall take our leave." Itachi gave Sakuya a final glance before teleporting with his two accomplices in a rustle of leaves.

Sasuke gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. He wasn't going to let _him_ get away after pulling all these acts. He gave Kakashi a quick I-shall-leave-her-to-you glance.

Then he was gone with the wind.

Kimimaro, who was carefully situated in a safe corner just below them, gave the Konoha team a deadpan look before vanishing right after Sasuke.

Gloomy clouds shrouded the strong sun as gusts of wind hinted at the volatile weather moods.

The wind blew harshly at Sakuya's seemingly cold still body as she abruptly fell from the branch that Sasuke had carefully laid her on.

Adroitly, Kakashi managed to catch her and landed on the open ground with his ex-student tucked safely in his arms.

His team followed suit.

Shigure acted instinctively when Kakashi rested Sakuya gently on the ground at the corner, shielding her from downwind while the rest just watched on the medic doing his work.

Kakashi looked ahead, particularly staring at the menace redhead trudging his feet tenaciously towards them. The Sand youth has been sensible enough to remain where he was, a few branches away from Kimimaro, during the confrontation just now.

"Your battle is already ended. We will take care of things from here on." Kakashi informed as he blocked his way to Sakuya's side.

Gaara stared right through at Kakashi, who stared right through back. The two 'studied' each other for a moment before Shigure tore their attention away by muttering, "Unbelievable… "

"What, Shigure?" asked Gai.

"..Hn.. Sakura-san… she…" was all Shigure could sputter.

Shigure's bewilderment was then self-explanatory when they see Sakuya slowly getting her eyes open…

As the wind goes and the leaves rustle, _a masked feminine figure_ silhouetted against the shadows of tree branches watched them from a distance, hidden from them yet able to witness the whole event.

Then she was gone with the wind.

-+-+-+-+-

Meanwhile, Itachi and gang were busy leaping from tree to tree when Kisame asks concernedly, "Will she be okay… leaving her like this?"

After all, their mole did receive the Sharingan attack twice.

"She'll survive." Answered Itachi crisply as he recalled seeing a twitch of Sakuya's fingers before they left.

Everything will go on _as planned_.

"What about your brother?" Seira interrupted, looking over her shoulders from time to time. "He's catching up."

"I'll deal with him when the time comes." Itachi stated calmly, looking ahead with his usual poker face.


	6. Homecoming I

**Chapter 6 – Homecoming (Part I)**

**The Return of The Friend… Or Foe?

* * *

**

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine… … …

One was missing.

Tsunade frowned with displeasure. "Who's missing?"

Her nine subordinates froze at that moment, all hoping the late one would show up soon…

"I'm here!" A sudden puff of smoke answered their prayers as Yamanaka Ino made her 'grand' entrance into the Hokage's office by appearing right beside…Tsunade.

"Kya!" Ino shrieked. Apart from pure shock that someone was actually right beside her, Ino also thought her sensei can kill her with those set of piercing brown eyes of hers.

Ino decided to straighten her shoulders and said in the most innocent way possible. "I… hmm.. I made it in time, didn't… didn't I?"

"You wouldn't be stuttering if you did." Tenten quipped, and immediately earned a killing scowl from Ino.

"There is still two minutes before our meeting time at eight thirty." Ino defended, shrugging her shoulders.

"You're considered late when everybody has already arrived." Hinata retorted smoothly.

"Hinata!" Ino burst, glaring at her usually quiet comrade.

"Just face it. You're late." Kiba added with a snort.

Ino gritted her teeth, feeling unjust.

Now, who are the ones that doggedly kept her up all night?

Ino was about to rebuke these unsympathetic people when she was startled by the loud fist slam on the Hokage's oak table, sending nearby sparrows from outside to disperse at that instant.

"URU SAI!"

Everyone fell silent immediately, turning their attention at the seemingly pissed Fifth Hokage.

Shizune watched Tsunade concernedly. She is being irascible these days. Or to be more specific, Tsunade's temperament has been getting pretty short than ever since Sakura was confirmed to be still alive.

"Easy, everyone." Shizune tried to sooth with her awkward smile. "Let's not bicker over petty things."

"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune quickly turned to the woman with arms crossed over her voluptuous chest. "Let's get things moving."

Tsunade exhaled to calm at Shizune's words.

Right.

They couldn't afford to waste any more time.

Tsunade narrowed her eyes at the blonde shinobi propping by the window frame with his hands tucked casually in the pockets of his orange suit.

Naruto has been remaining quiet all the while, keeping his say to himself while his blue eyes revealed all.

He was annoyed at his noisy comrades alright. But the age of time has taught him calmness… calmness to set things straight.

He was no longer the twelve year old gennin who would butt into every business mindlessly and then worsened things in the end.

He was twenty now. Tsunade reminded herself. A full-grown man who has also matured in his way of thinking as well as actions.

Tsunade then squared her shoulders and cleared her throat. "As you know, the Sand needs our assistance urgently after their village was attacked."

She paused to observe each and every of their expressions.

They are going to hate her for this.

"I'm sending all of you over."

"What about Sakura?" Naruto asked brusquely, the first to react.

Tsunade rested her hands on her hips. She had already expected defiance coming from this lad with blonde spikes.

"She will just have to wait." Tsunade answered nonchalantly. "The Sand…"

"She has waited for four years already!" Naruto interjected Tsunade, his voice raising. "And…!"

Ino gave an soothing squeeze on Naruto's shoulders, which made the latter realize he has been rude to the oba-chan.

"I suggest you split us up." Shikamaru stepped forward. "One team to aid the Sands and one team to bring back Sakura."

Ino thought at that moment Shikamaru looked dashing with those words.

"No." Tsunade rejected flatly, deepening her frown.

Shikamaru cocked a questioning brow. "Why?"

"From the information I've been getting from the Sand's messenger, there is this possibility that danger still lurks in their village. As you all know, Gaara is missing. Termari and Kankuro are seriously injured to God knows what extent. Their village is critically weak now, so we need at least two teams to aid them. And since most suitable shinobis are out for missions now, I can only trust you guys to do the job."

Shikamaru nodded in understanding. And so are the others.

Naruto clenched his fists, suppressing his unwillingness of all this. As much as he wanted to disagree, he couldn't deny what Tsunade just said made sense.

After Sasuke's departure eight years ago, Konoha underwent an overhaul to retrieve its former strength.

Sakura became a disciple of Tsunade and him with Jiraya.

And jounins, chunnins… everyone seemed to be busy with their missions and all the stuff that involved rebuilding Konoha.

Even Kakashi, their laid-back sensei seemed to have this solemn expression on his face all the while.

Subsequently, Tenten, Ino, Hinata and Sakura formed the official team training under Tsunade and became the famous Four from Konoha with their flawless teamwork and individualities.

Neji and Shikamaru gradually enlisted in the ANBU while the rest was promoted to jounins.

Just when everything was returning to former times, _tragedy_ stuck again.

Sakura died.

Along with some evident damage to the Leaf village.

Opportunists started to take advantage of Konoha's condition after the episode and Tsunade got very upset though she didn't mention it. But the grief was obvious. The Hokage worked ceaselessly to rid herself of the hurt in her. Jounins, chunnins.. Even gennins.. Everyone was busy again with their missions and rebuilding Konoha…

Now, Konoha just tasted the tip of their former strength when _this_ had to happen.

A book smacked right at Naruto's face, snapping him out of his reverie.

"Naruto, are you listening?" Tsunade bellowed, her brows furrowing.

Naruto rubbed the bruise on his forehead. "Yeah, yeah."

Tsunade heaved a sigh of exasperation at the restless blonde before turning her attention back to where she stopped.

"As I was saying, Hinata." Tsunade averted her gaze to her serene disciple. "You shall be in charge of the medic responsibilities since you have the Byukugan."

"Shall I go with them?" Shizune offered. "Hinata may not be able to cope with the casualties in the Sand village, given the damage."

"You have to stay here." Tsunade said in a matter of fact. "Speaking of casualties, we do have a couple of them too."

Shizune gave it a thought. How could she forget about it? A rising number of patients have been flocking to Konoha for medical attention over the years, given Tsunade's reputation as the medical specialist since her return to Konoha as the Fifth Hokage.

Tsunade was right. She has to stay in Konoha.

The Fifth rubbed her chin. "And who knows, emergencies might occur and medics are a must to save the day. After all, the safety of our village comes first as much as we want to help the Sands."

"Hn." Shizune nodded.

Tsunade turned to her blonde disciple. "Ino, you shall assist Hinata."

"Huh?" Ino worried her lower lip. She has never been the medic type. To be honest, Ino felt she was more like a psychiatrist instead.

Ino heaved a sigh of helplessness, since no one except Shizune seemed to be more suited to this job, but she has to stay in Konoha.

_(If only Sakura is still with us…)_ Tsunade thought but she quickly pushed that thought aside and focused on the concurrent conversation.

"Be confident of your abilities, Ino." Tsunade assured. "You made who you are today. Prove it."

"Hai!" Ino responded enthusiastically as she felt her confidence rising by the comfort of her sensei's words.

"As for the rest of you… remember, our goal is to defend. Do not start an attack unnecessarily. Be on the alert for any dangers and report immediately for any mishap."

"HAI!" came the simultaneous confident replies from her nine subordinates.

"Shikamaru!" Tsunade eyed the lazy ANBU knowingly. Shikamaru glanced away in response. He knew what Tsunade was going to announce.

"Troublesome. Why does it always have to be me…?" Shikamaru murmured, rolling his eyes.

"Hai, Hai. You are to be the leader of this unruly team." Tsunade tilted her head slightly, amused.

"Guide them well!" Tsunade winked at the disgruntled ANBU who received an elbow hit from Ino, who was displeased with his attitude.

"Now, gather your things and leave the Leaf in thirty minutes time!" Tsunade concluded.

They bowed. Then whoosh! They were gone.

"It's their first time, isn't it? The ten of them working together as a team." Shizune said beside Tsunade, who took her seat in front of the Hokage's desk.

"Hn." Answered Tsunade with a drawled voice. She knew what Shizune was thinking.

"Do you think they will be alright?" Shizune questioned, finally voicing out her thoughts.

As much as they are comrades, _disagreements do arise from the ten of them_ _from time to time_…

Tsunade thought about it a second. "They know their priorities… for they are _my dear subordinates_ after all."

Shizune smiled in response, in which Tsunade smiled in return.

-+-+-+-+-

"One dozen beef cup ramen, check! One dozen chicken cup ramen, check! One dozen seafood cup ramen, check… …"

Naruto trailed off as one of those moments with Sakura invaded his mind. It was one of those rare times where they were assigned as a team for a mission. Sakura had dropped by his apartment while she was on her way to their meeting place, the village gate.

**-Flashback-**

"One dozen seafood cup ramen, check! One dozen chicken cup ramen, check! One dozen beeefff…"

"I'm coming in!" Sakura announced, before teleporting herself right in front of Naruto with a backpack swung over her shoulders.

"Ah… …" He had only worn a pair of flowery boxer shorts then.

Both (--lll) at that moment.

Instantaneously, Naruto was smacked right in his face by Sakura's backpack, sending him sprawling on the ground.

With a clenched fist, Sakura said intensely, "You idiot! Being half-naked in front of a lady!"

"Iitaii…" Naruto grimaced and rubbed the back of his head while he sat cross-legged on the ground filled with his scattered stuff that is to be packed inside his backpack.

"How was I supposed to know you were dropping by?" Naruto retorted. "And this is my house, for crying out loud! I can wear anything I want!"

Naruto saw Sakura sending her deadly fist at him, in which he swiftly dodged and caught her fist before slamming her right down his bed.

"Hehe!" He smirked then, gaining the upper hand by being the one on top. "Easy, girl! You lost."

Sakura smiled devilishly. "That's what your idiot mind thinks."

She began a bit of taijutsu in which Naruto steadily counteract and nullify.

Just when they were in the midst of arm-wrestling on the bed… …

"You guys sure know how to make use of time…"

Naruto and Sakura immediately stopped their struggling and turned intuitively towards the source of the voice, in which they found Kiba, Akamaru and Hinata standing right in front of them.

"Woof!" Akamaru greeted.

Kiba had his arms folded across his chest smugly while Hinata darted her whitish eyes nervously around the room, as seeing Naruto in his raw athletic build was too much for her.

The two immediately untangled themselves and straightened up.

"We're not doing what you think we're doing!" Sakura defended, starting to feel redness creeping up her cheeks.

"I'm not sure about that…" retorted Kiba with a snort. "Fancy smooching around when we are to embark on a mission. You guys sure don't have a sense of discipline."

Sakura stepped defensively forward about to retort at the same time Hinata tugged on Kiba's sleeves to hint him to stop his sarcastic remarks.

"Why don't you just admit you're envious?" Naruto quipped, tucking his hands behind his head.

"Of what?" Kiba retorted.

Sakura and Hinata exchanged a knowing look. _(There the two goes again…)_

"Of me!" Naruto stated smugly. "You're jealous of me!"

Sakura cocked an exasperating eyebrow while Hinata looked helpless.

"Of what?" Kiba hissed.

"Of what you don't have!"

The two was about to start a fight when the girls shouted, "STOP IT!"

"We have a mission, remember!" Sakura reminded.

"And internal conflicts will only ruin it." Hinata added.

The two heated ones gave each other a glare, then "Hn!" turned away from each other.

Hinata looked at her watch. "We've got ten more minutes."

Sakura glanced at her watch, then at the scattered stuff in Naruto's room.

They've got only ten more minutes to leave the village yet not a belonging from Naruto were even packed!

Sakura breathed. "I'll help Naruto in his packing. Hinata, Kiba. You guys wait for us at the gate. Naruto!"

"Yeah?"

"Get dressed!" And then his orange suit was smacked right in his face.

Once they were alone on their own, Sakura began stuffing necessities into Naruto's backpack while he gets dressed. When Naruto was done with his dressing, he noticed Sakura had forgone his beloved ramen…

"Hey!" He started to protest.

"You don't need them!" Sakura snapped. "Now where are your boxers?"

"Eh?"

"Don't tell me you plan to wear the same one throughout!" Sakura said unbelievably.

"Of course not!" Naruto said, feeling kind of embarrassed. "I.. I'll pack that myself."

"Of course! I'm only reminding you! Eh…" Sakura noticed Naruto's backpack was starting to tear at the sides.

"Ah… it started to tear already…" Naruto remarked and received a clout in the head by Sakura.

"Don't you even think of throwing it! I'll stitch it up for you when we're back."

**-End of Flashback-**

Right.

This backpack in his hands now was a present from Sakura. He smoothed over the stitch-up corner when he sensed someone by his door.

"Open up, Naruto-kun!"

It was Lee.

The chap was banging so hard on his door that Naruto thought it would collapse any moment. He teetered his way through, careful not to step on his stuff scattered everywhere on the floor.

Naruto unlatched his door and found the fuzzy brows puffing at his doorway. Naruto thought he must have got here using more than his super doper ultra speed.

"What is it! I'm still paccckk…!" He suddenly felt himself being tugged by Lee in his sleeves as they leaped from roof to roof.

"What's the matter, fuzzy brows!" Naruto asked with annoyance when he finally got the chance to smack Lee's hands off him at one of the rooftops.

Silence surrounded them for a moment before Lee stated calmly. "Sakura-san is back."

Naruto took a moment to register that fact in his mind. Then it was his turn to yank Lee by his shoulders. "Where is she now?"

"At the hospital. Gai-sen…sei…"

Naruto was already gone.

Lee stared dazedly at where Naruto stood a while ago. _(His speed… …)_

-+-+-+-+-+-

"WHERE IS SHE?" Naruto demanded roughly upon whooshing into the reception of Konoha hospital in his white T-shirt and black shorts.

_(What happened to Sakur! When did she get back? How did she get back? Why is she in hospital! What the hell happene! Is she dying? Who was there with her during the time she got hurt? Or alone? WHO THE HELL HURT HE?)_

The list reverberated strongly in his mind over and over again as he stared sharply at the stunned receptionist in front of him.

The receptionist took a moment to acknowledge his presence before pointing her index finger astutely towards the north wing without a word in her still stupefying mode.

Then in a blink of the eyes, Naruto was nowhere to be found…

The receptionist looked around the enclosed area in disbelief. Shrugging it off, she was about to get back to her work when…

"WHERE IS SHE?" Ino and Lee whiz in and shouted in her ears in the midst of their wheezing.

In a state of momentary incredulity, the receptionist almost toppled in her seat if not for her instinctive grip at the edge of the desk. She quickly regained her composure and points her index finger knowingly towards the north wing once more, only to find herself staring into space upon hearing a whoosh…

-+-+-+-+-+-

_(The north wing was where all major operations are held… … … …_ … _HANG ON, SAKURA-CHAN!)_

Naruto came to an abrupt halt when he saw a couple of medical nins running hither and yon upfront. Then he saw a flustered Shizune popping into view from one of the rooms.

"Hurry!" she hollered, her voice echoing down the hallway.

The medical nins immediately quickened their tracks while Naruto's muscles went rigid that instant.

"Shizune ne-chan!" Naruto called, running to her side.

"Naruto!" Shizune uttered, clearly not expecting to see the youth at the north wing of Konoha hospital at this point of time. "What are you do..? Aren't you supposed to-"

"I'll catch up!" Naruto interjected, peering anxiously over Shizune and caught a glimpse of a familiar figure with pink hair lying lifelessly on the operating table inside the operating theatre.

His anxiety tripled that instant. "Is that… Sakura?"

"SHIZUNE! I NEED YOU HERE!" Tsunade bellowed from within, interrupting them.

Shizune grasped the urgency from Tsunade and grabbed Naruto by the shoulders when the lad tried to barge into the room that moment. "You can't go in! We'll take care of things here!"

"But-"

"SHIZUNE!"

Shizune peered over her shoulders and at Naruto again. "Just GO!"

Naruto tried to protest again but was held back by a firm hand on his shoulders.

"Let it be, Naruto."

It was Kakashi.

Shizune gave an acknowledgment nod at the silver-haired shinobi before closing the door behind her, closing the vision of Sakura to Naruto as well.

Naruto slumped against the wall, cringed at the fact that he might lose Sakura yet again. His body involuntarily quivered at the thought of that.

He breathed. He was no longer sure he wanted to know what was going to happen next.

Eyeing him the entire time, Kakashi thought silence was considered abnormal for this number one noisy shinobi in Konoha.

But the silence usually meant one thing – he has something in mind he couldn't figure out.

"Naruto-kun!"

Lee appeared that moment, halting himself right in front of the two. "How is Sakura-san?"

Naruto did not respond.

"It's up to Sakura now." Kakashi answered subtly when he saw Naruto looking disheartened on the floor.

Ino appeared breathlessly then, glaring daggers at the fuzzy brows for the fact that she can barely catch up with the man in green. "You! (puff) (puff) (puff)"

But then, the words just died in her when she saw Naruto looking suspiciously quiet against the wall.

"Sakura…" Ino whispered faintly instead, fearing the worst.

Suddenly, they heard a shriek coming out from the operating room that Sakura is in.

"The bleeding won't stop!" They heard one of them from within.

Naruto immediately shot up and tried to turn the doorknob, which was locked. He pounds on the door instead. "SAKURA!"

-+-+-+-+-+-

Tsunade glared at the door, quite surprised to hear Naruto outside, in which his pounding gradually stopped.

"Hokage-sama! What do we do now!" One of the medic nins asked fretfully.

Tsunade looked at Sakura.

_It's amazing, Hokage-sama! Sakura-san actually does the healing from the inside to complement mine from the outside. _

Tsunade recalled some of the words Shigure told her when she was notified of Sakura's homecoming.

Right.

They can't afford to perform anymore healing jutsu. The _jutsu on her_ was simply too dangerous to take such a risk. The only way to cease the internal bleeding now was to make Sakura do the healing. After all, she was the only one who knows _exactly_ where the internal bleeding was.

"Sakura!" Tsunade cupped her student's ice-cold face frantically. "I know you can hear me! HEAL YOURSELF, SAKURA!"

-+-+-+-+-+-

Sakuya snapped her eyes open, only to find herself shrouded in darkness. She could feel her body trembling with cold and exhaustion as she tried to balance herself up. Her legs started to buckle under the strain the moment she is up, and it was becoming more and more difficult for her to focus her eyes ahead. A sharp, searing pain exploded across her consciousness, like a flash of lightning across a dark horizon.

She was vaguely aware that she was on her back now, staring up dazedly into the darkness. She tried to budge, but found that her body won't move no matter how much she wanted it to. Everything seemed to be getting darker as her heart pounded wildly from an unknown tightness in her chest.

"HEAL YOURSELF, SAKURA! HEAL YOURSELF!" Sakuya heard.

Something was wrong. But Sakuya couldn't tell.

Where was she? She didn't know.

Suddenly, bright beams of light flashed their way through, making her eyes squint instinctively. She rolled on her back feebly as a hand reflexively shaded her eyes against the vivid beams.

"Sakura" A husky voice called out.

The voice… sounds familiar.

"Come to me, Sakura"

_(It's the… the thing again.)_ Sakuya thought.

Summoning all the strength that is left in her body, Sakuya crawled her way through. She didn't know why, something… somewhere in her told her she could trust _this thing_.

She lifted her head halfheartedly when she felt blazing red hot flames in front of her. As like previous times, a magnificent sword would be glowing from within, mixing its purple aura within the flames.

"Heal yourself, Sakura." It said.

"Sakura, is that you?" Sakuya heard another voice coming from her left. Making a clever guess, Sakuya reckons it must be her look-alike in that damn cage. "Do as it tells you!"

"I can't…" Sakuya said feebly. "My chakra…"

"Be strong, Sakura! You don't want to die now that you've come this far!" Her look-alike hollered from the darkness.

Sakuya just laid limply in front of the glowing sword.

"Sakura." It voiced again, this time forming the flames into a Phoenix head. "Feel me, Sakura. Feel me from within."

Sakuya winced, trying to grasp the meaning behind the words.

"Focus, Sakura!" Her look-alike hollered again.

_(Focus…?)_

"Feel me from within" It repeated.

"Become one with me."

-+-+-+-+-+-

"Naruto! Will you PLEASE calm down!" Ino shouted in his ears while trying to hold the chap down.

Lee and Kakashi have been trying to calm the chap down from then and again when they heard screams from within the room. Even Gai came to help.

Naruto smacked off their hands and clout hard on the wall instead, venting his frustrations that he had bottled up over the years.

Ino exhaled, relieved that the hot-blooded blonde is somewhat calm for now.

She looked at her watch perfunctorily. Then it struck her that they should be _somewhere_ instead now.

"Ah!" Ino shrieked, suddenly yanking Lee by the shoulders. "Did you inform the others about us coming here!"

Naruto froze at that realization.

They had totally forgotten about their mission.

Lee dilated his already wide eyes as he hesitated under Ino's piercing blue orbs. "I… I don't... I don't think so."

With immediate effect, he received a smack in the face from Ino.

"We're shit this time!" Ino remarked, throwing her hands up in the air.

"WHAT!" Gai asked incredulously. "Explain yourself, Lee!"

"We're the aiding teams to the Sands. We're supposed to be on our way now to their village."

Right after he said that, he received a whirling kick from Gai, in which he was wretchedly flung down the hallway.

"YOU HAVE A MISSION, YET YOU'RE STILL HERE!" Gai bellowed, his veins popping. "WHERE ARE THE DISCIPLINE THAT SENSEI PAINSTAKINGLY TAUGHT YOU!"

"GOMEN NASAI, GAI SENSEI!" Lee apologized from down the hallway. "It was a case of emergency!"

Neji and Tenten, who got news of them being here, appeared then, helping Lee up as they made their way to Gai.

"That's not enough to suffice your absence for the mission!" Kakashi retorted, feeling his anger rising as well. "You guys have seriously endangered the lives of your fellow comrades because of this one impulsive act."

"Furthermore, this concerns the goodwill between us and the Sands. What will the Sand think of us sending slack aiding teams to them?" Kakashi questioned, averting his sharp gaze at Naruto, who now hung his head low.

Tenten spared a glance at Naruto when she and Neji came up to them. Then she turned to Ino. "You should have at least told us where you guys were! We were practically turning Konoha upside down just to find you three!"

Ino too, just hung her head low without uttering a word.

"Where are the others now?" Naruto finally voiced, carefully avoiding Kakashi's reproaching eyes.

"They already left the Leaf two hours ago." Neji answered with his Byukugan. "We are to catch up with them as soon as we find the three of you."

Naruto hesitated and turned towards the door that separated Sakura from him...

"What can you do here?" Kakashi questioned, sensing his unwillingness to go.

A glint of defiance flashed across Naruto's eyes but it was transient.

_(Kakashi-sensei is right. What can I do here? I can't heal, nor is there a need for me to fight.)_

"If you must know, Sakura is saved." Neji stated as a matter of fact as he deactivated his Byukugan.

Naruto looked up in realization at the Hyuuga for his act of consideration, gratitude etched clearly in his expressive face.

"Thank you!" Unexpectedly, he pounced on Neji and gave him this really huge hug that kind of disgusted the Hyuuga. "Get off me!"

Both Tenten and Ino chuckled, amused to see the scene at the same time relieved to hear that Sakura was fine. Lee just smiled silly while Gai and Kakashi just shoke their heads in exasperation.

"I say we get out of here before _the obachan_ rips our heads off!" Ino quipped.

Her teammates nodded in agreement.

"If you excuse us!" Tenten concluded.

Then one second you see them, the other you don't…

"I'M GOING TO-" Tsunade jerked the door open with the intention to take punitive actions against them, and was actually slightly stumped when she saw only Kakashi and Gai at the door, grinning at her.

_(That was pretty fast.)_

"It's been hard on you."

"How was the operation?" One said after another.

Tsunade eyed the two knowingly, and the two looked back knowingly.

"Arguably a success." Tsunade informed, deciding to fold her cards.

The two jounins relaxed that instant, relieved that the Hokage was not going to pursue the issue.

Tsunade bit her lip, her gaze on the floor.

All was not end yet.

"Get Kurenai and Anko and meet me at the Hokage's office in fifteen minutes time. There's something I wanted to know more."


	7. Ties

**Chapter 7: Ties**

**Call it a organization, call it a family, call it a friend or even a rival, whatever you call it... you can't deny you don't need it... **_**Ties****

* * *

**_

The gentle rays of the sun spread across the landscape of greenery as the birds sang their songs in the background. An elegant lady with a red crescent mark on her forehead sipped her tea, savoring every drop of it as she dipped her legs into the cool water flowing from a cascade nearby.

Mizu Yuya leaned forward, letting her long gray plait to fall gracefully from her back while she toyed with a sparrow that rested itself on her index finger.

"It's so boring without Sakuya." Yuya drawled, her voice airy.

"Do you have to do that?" A solemn female voice butted in unexpectedly from nowhere.

The sparrow flapped away immediately, and Yuya opened her mouth, faking a shocked look on her face as her gaze shifted and settled on a silhouette nestling on one of the shadowed branches.

"What a scare you gave me! Since when you are here?"

"Since when you know I'm here." came the witty remark.

The figure had one arched knee to rest her elbow while the other was left hanging in the air. Most of her face was shadowed from view while the leaves rustled against the wind.

Yuya snickered as she caressed her lips with her fingers. "How long has it been?"

"I didn't count." came the terse answer.

Yuya sighed and rubbed her chin as she studied the kunoichi in the shadows. "As usual, you're not cute at all."

The kunoichi smirked darkly at her open stare. "And you are as twisted as usual."

In between the lines, Yuya thought she sounded resentful.

Shaking her head slightly with her braid swaying with the movement, Yuya cocked one questioning eyebrow. "You're troubled, isn't it? Is that why you're back all of a sudden?"

Silence.

But Yuya knew she had turned her attention to the clouds.

A gust of wind blew by when the kunoichi felt something, or particularly, someone snaking around her body.

She knew it was the leader of the infamous Akatsuki before she appeared, clinging onto her body as she touched her masked face lightly before sliding her hands around the back of her head.

Still, the kunoichi didn't budge, nor did she stiffen at the intimate touches. She knew the leader too well to give her such satisfaction.

The kunoichi has a distant look over her veiled face as she stared into the violet eyes.

"Forgive me?" Yuya pouted.

"Why are you doing this?" The kunoichi asked instead, knitting her worried brows together. "Sakuya-"

She was cut short by a slick finger on her lips.

"Sshh. We mustn't leak the secret." Yuya whispered, a perverse smirk curled up at the corner of her lips. "It will kill her."

The kunoichi widened her eyes at that statement. She forced herself to pry Yuya's hands away from her as she snorted, turning her gaze to her side.

As much as she tried to sound nonchalant, Yuya could see there was ruefulness hinted from the kunoichi's eyes.

"How long has it been?" Yuya asked again at her ears with a soft voice.

Somehow, the kunoichi knew the question held a different meaning as to the previous one.

"I didn't count." She replied with the same answer, but in a more monotonous tone.

Yuya smiled, burying her fingers in the kunoichi's light brown hair that reflected from the rays of light.

"You know…" Yuya paused, her voice becoming dangerously low, "You can always visit Sakuya if you want to."

"Since you two came from the same village."

-+-+-+-+-+-

"Sakura"

Sakuya slowly opened her eyes, almost afraid of what she would learn once she did. For a second, she wondered where she was as she rested on her back. Then she saw the glowing sword sitting magnificently just above her head.

She closed her eyes again as she immersed herself in the comfortable warmth surging in her body while hating her now powerless self at the same time. She had never felt so lost before. In all, she felt like a mess. Different emotions were pulling her in different directions, confusing her on what would happen next.

"I'm still here." Sakuya murmured, after reckoning perhaps the sword could guide a way out. She knew the sword was listening. "Does that mean I died?"

"No." The sword answered seriously. "But you will… if you don't unseal the jutsu on you fast."

Sakuya snapped her eyes open at that statement. What jutsu is it talking about?

"Eh?" Sakuya voiced weakly instead, forming her sweaty brows into a frown.

It was strange, but she could swear that a flash of pain seared through her then, making her struggle for breaths as a groan was ripped from her throat when the pain became great… …

-+-+-+-+-+-

Mrs. Haruno dropped the vase of narcissuses in her hands as her eyes dilated in shock at the scene in front of her.

Sand was flowing everywhere in the hospital ward Sakura is in!

And what was worse was that her beloved daughter was actually being consumed by the sand meandering their way around her body on the bed.

She faltered a few steps back when she saw a redhead at a corner, staring eerily at her.

"What are you doing to my daughter?" Mrs Haruno managed to cry out while steadying her feet.

"I'm killing her." Gaara answered coldly with folded arms.

Mrs. Haruno gasped at that raw realization as she glared at Gaara. What a redundant question she has asked! Aren't his actions obvious already?

She glanced at Sakura anxiously. Her daughter was groaning for help.

She looked back at Gaara. The redhead was daring her to stop him.

But what could she do? It has been years since she… anyway, she has always been the weakest in the family!

But! No matter what.. No matter how… she wasn't going to let this creepy redhead ruin this family reunion she has been visioning for long eight years.

So now, there's only one way out.

She started for the door with the intention to holler for help, but was unfortunately gripped by the sand at her feet. She slumped to the floor in pain as her eyes caught a lump of sand charging straight at her.

She squeezed her eyes tight, waiting for the worst to happen.

If she can't save her daughter, she shall die with her.

But then, she thought she felt a whoosh…

"I already said your battle is over."

Mrs. Haruno opened her eyes furtively as she belatedly realized she was still alive. She stared at the gray-haired figure shielding her from the redhead as the sand dissipated right in front of him.

It was Kakashi.

"At the end of a battle starts another." spat Gaara, staring at Kakashi.

Mrs. Haruno quickly looked over at Sakura, and was relieved that the sand on her has also been dissipated. Tsunade and Shizune appeared then, in which Shizune helped her up while Tsunade glared at the Sand menace with clenched fists when she saw Sakura all messed up by the sand.

"Give it up, Gaara." Kakashi said, looking serious. "You should be on your way home now."

Gaara flinched at the word of home. "My home is gone now! Thanks to this bitch you've been trying to save!"

"Don't let insolence get into that sand head of yours!" Tsunade spat brusquely through gritted teeth. "You're standing on the grounds of Konoha!"

Gaara hissed, undaunted by the Hokage.

"If you still want the ally, stop this nonsense this very second." Tsunade warned, feeling irritated that she was negligent about this sand menace when Kakashi's team first stepped into the grounds of Konoha. If not for Kakashi's notice a while ago at her office, wouldn't she lose Sakura again…?

She winced at the thought of that.

"We have sent aiding teams to the Sands." Tsunade continued with narrowed eyes at Gaara. "You should know better than anyone of us here at how weak your village has become. Any attack now would be just a breeze. Don't make us change plans because of your impulsive actions, brat."

Gaara scowled at the people in front of him, then at Sakuya.

He wasn't going to give up. He couldn't care less about the ally now that his village is practically gone. But the situation before him proves unfavorable, so…

He would wait for the right moment.

The right moment where Haruno Sakura will pay dearly for what she did to the hidden village of Sand.

-+-+-+-+-+-

The sun was setting in the hidden village of Sand.

Admiring the picturesque view with his hands shading his eyes, Naruto grinned atop of a tree.

Man, was he tired! The ten of them arrived at the Sand village around mid-noon and has been getting down working ever since. The damage done to the Sands was worse than he had expected, making him wonder just how long this mission is going to take them…

But nonetheless, the thought of seeing a well and alive Sakura at the end of it just made his blood boil with excitement. He began to vision how the reunion between him and Sakura would look like... would both of them come into a tight embrace while Sakura would cry and he would be comforting her? Or would they just look at each other in the eyes and then share a passionate kiss… …NO. They would look at each other in the eyes and then share passionate kissES!

Naruto chuckled at the thought of that.

"Do you think there's something wrong with him?" Kiba complained to Neji on another tree. "He's been grinning like a fool ever since we met."

The three of them were supposedly to be scouting for any suspicions around the west border of the Sand forestry.

Neji smirked, "You will come to understand."

Kiba snorts, "Give us a break! Right, Akamaru?"

The dog gives a woof in response, staying loyal to Kiba.

"Oei!" Naruto enthusiastically butted in. "Shikamaru is calling us!"

Neji and Kiba looked down and saw the signal for assembly – The reflections of light at the tower porch.

Exchanging each other a knowing look, the three of them immediately whiz for the tower.

-+-+-+-+-+-

Hinata was the last to arrive, along with Ino. Both girls looked exhausted when they propped themselves against the railing of the tower, looking ready to collapse.

Shikamaru kept his worried stare at the two girls, knowing this was too much for them, especially Ino, since she has never really been the medic type. The next batch of medics won't be arriving in another two more days and judging the situation now, the two was invaluable not only to the Sands, but also to the team as well. What was going to happen if they were caught off guard by a surprise attack and there was no one capable to tend to their injuries? Being the leader, Shikamaru was determined not to expose his team to such risks… especially when the risks were lurking in the dark…

"Ino, Hinata. You two get some rest now." Shikamaru stated plainly.

With a small frown on her tired face, Ino trudged her feet forward. "You're not leaving us out." She said it more like a command than a question.

Shikamaru frowned back. He has always hated arguing with Ino. It was troublesome, even by looking at it.

"But you two look dead." Tenten interrupted, shifting her weight on the railing. "Grasp the big picture. We can't have you two heal us looking like that when we need you in times of emergencies."

Shikamaru sighed inwardly. Why can't Ino be like Tenten? You know, at least have Tenten's sensibility! But somehow, Shikamaru thought Ino wouldn't be his Ino if she did lose some of her crazy violent ways… wait! Did he just say _his_ Ino? Man, this was all getting troublesome…

"Shikamaru!" Naruto interjected, shaking the leader roughly by his shoulders. "Quit spacing out! What is it you call us back all of a sudden!"

Shikamaru smacked Naruto's hands away, and noticed that Hinata and Ino have just turned around the corner.

Good. At least, they heed advices.

"We need to rest." Shikamaru stated flatly and folded his arms. "None of you has spotted anything suspicious, I hope?"

All shook their heads.

"But we can't be absolutely sure." Shikamaru rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "The Sands are holding a receptive dinner for us at another tower of theirs. We will have our dinner first and later in the night, we will be taking turns in groups of twos to do guard duty together with the Sand shinobis."

All nodded.

"So now, I'll be assigning the teams." Shikamaru then pulled out a sheet of paper full of scribbles from his pockets.

"Excluding Ino and Hinata. There will only be eight of us now. So Neji! You shall team up with Kiba. Your sense of insight should complement Kiba's sense of smell well."

The two nodded in agreement.

"Chouji! Shino! You two shall be in a team. Your attitude goes well with Chouji."

Chouji continued to munch his potato chips happily while Shino nodded in acceptance.

"And Tenten, you shall team up with Lee since you two are versed in attacks. Pairing you two up will maximize your attacks to full potential. But more importantly…" Shikamaru paused intently, eyeing at Lee. "I think Tenten can guide Lee when he gets impulsive during the fight, since you two has been in a team longer than us. The bonding should work between you two."

The two nodded and Shikamaru looked over at the edgy blonde comrade.

So now, the two left is…

"I'm pairing up with you then!" Naruto stated, forming his lips almost like a pout.

Shikamaru cocked an eyebrow, thinking pretty much the same as Naruto. Of course, he didn't want to pair up with the number one noisy shinobi of Konoha. The chap always had something surprising in his sleeves, making him unpredictable and full of surprises. You can't be absolutely sure what would happen when you're with him. But nevertheless…

"Hai. You have the honor to pair up with the leader." Shikamaru drawled. "Since you tend to be oblivious of what's really happening and of course, your bighead problem when you barely gained the upper hand of the situation."

Naruto scowled at Shikamaru, and was about to retort when Shikamaru raised a hand at him, implying that he should finish what he said.

"Don't you get it by now? You have the stamina and I have the brains. We should complement well."

"Okay!" Tenten stepped in between the boys when she saw Naruto still having the disgruntled face. This argument just seems pointless and out of place. And not to say how things are going to get ugly if conflicts arise from them. "I'm so hungry! Let's go have our dinner now!"

"I think I can eat a cow load of food, right Akamaru!" Kiba joined in hungrily.

"If there's nothing else, I agree to have our dinner now." Lee added politely.

"Food! Food! Food!" Chouji chipped in happily, still munching his potato chips.

With that, Tenten dragged Naruto and Shikamaru out to the streets of the Sand while the rest followed suit.

-+-+-+-+-+-

Naruto inhaled the cool air as he listened to the chitchat of his teammates. He mused, smirking slightly at the thought of them being amicably together finally. He tucked his hands behind his head as he looked up at the dusk sky when suddenly he felt this reflexive need to halt his tracks and look over his shoulders.

The wind was still.

The streets were empty.

It was strange, but he could swear he sensed someone in proximity... someone watching them… …

He darted his blue eyes around carefully when suddenly, he felt a firm hand on his shoulders.

It was Neji.

"We should go." Neji said, and gave him a firm squeeze on the shoulders.

Somehow, Naruto thought Neji's words were more than meets the ears. And not to say, he is hungry now. That should be the first priority – to recharge his body after a long day.

Anything… _anyone_… they can wait.

Shrugging it off, Naruto gave Neji a halfhearted punch in the chest before quickening his steps to meet up with the others. Neji gave their surroundings a quick look before walking away with his hands tucked in his pockets.

-+-+-+-+-+-

At a corner in the shadows, stood a stature furtively against the walls, watching the ten walking further and further away from him as his crimson eyes sparkled in the darkness.

That was close.

He never thought that _he_ was the alert type. Anyway, as much as he was full of anticipation in meeting _him_ again, he couldn't imagine meeting _him_ now in this place, at this time. _His_ looks have changed quite a bit, he must admit. _He_ was about just as tall as him and _his_ blonde hair was longer now and _he_ left it ruffled, hanging at _his_ sides. _His_ features were rid of the playfulness of a twelve year old and were replaced by the maturity of a twenty year old. But the hyper still stays true in _him_, he noticed. And _he_ still wore that stupid orange suit.

He lost track of Itachi and decided to stop by a nearby inn when he heard that Konoha was sending their help to the dysfunctional hidden village of Sand. And his curiosity was piqued when he heard _his_ name in it, along with nine others as the Konoha's Ten.

Uchiha Sasuke smirked, they were well-known now alright. But then, his smirk disappeared when he thought of Sakura. She was supposed to be in the list too. And together, they are known as Konoha's eleven – A formidable team of seven guys and four girls from Konoha. The girls however, branch out from the eleven of them with their firm and flawless teamwork, and thus they are also known as the Four Flowers from Konoha, in short, the Konoha's Four.

Or so, Sasuke heard.

Initially, other than just wanting to have his curiosity satisfied, Sasuke also hoped to get some info on Sakura's well-being. He felt her purse throbbing when he held her in his arms. It was weak, but nonetheless, it was still beating. And though Sasuke knew he shouldn't get his hopes high, there was this little prayer in his head that wished that Sakura was fine.

And he figured the ten of them should know, if not have the first-hand info on her since they were close comrades, especially the one with tousled blonde hair.

The one with tousled blonde hair… Sasuke kept his jaws tight and clenched his fists whenever he thought of _him_. Since he left the village for revenge, Sasuke had never mentioned that dobe's name. Just thinking of _his_ name always makes his blood boil unknowingly.

Yeah. He still wanted to fight _him_. His blood tells him that.

But back to his concern, judging from their outlooks, especially the same old brand new dobe, it seemed that Sakura made it, for the dobe never lied in terms of the expressions on his face. Sad or happy, the dobe never made it a point to hide it.

At one point, Sasuke felt glad but as the same time, Sasuke squeezed his eyes tight as his clenched fists gets tighter.

Why was he still bothering himself with the two after all these years?

But then, Sasuke snapped his eyes opened when Itachi suddenly popped in his mind.

Right. He had almost forgotten the obscure association between him and Sakura. Why was Sakura with him in the first place? What does that bastard want with her anyway? There was no bitterness when Sakura looked at Itachi and if his memory served him right, Sasuke remembered Sakura was wearing a cloak with red cloud patterns – a cloak alike Itachi's…

Sasuke froze as the raw realization hit him like a hard punch in the face.

Sakura was a member of the Akatsuki...?

What the hell...

But one thing was for sure, Itachi must have something to do with it.

And Sasuke sweared he is going to find out what is going on.

And when he does, Itachi's time will be up.


	8. His And Her Circumstances

**Chapter 8: His and Her Circumstances**

**The way I felt... It is beyond reason.. So don't ask me why...

* * *

**

The drizzling of the cool night rain had stopped, and in the calm silence of the after rain, Ino shivered slightly and brought her arms closer, walking out of the medical compound and into the streets deep in thoughts.

It has been three months and eighteen... or is it nineteen...? ... Ok, forget it.

It has been three months _plus_ since the ten of them are stationed in the Hidden Village of the Sands. Looking around, everything seems to be back to normal now. Houses, shops and buildings have been rebuilt, though there were still some ongoing works on a couple of them, like the Kazekage's tower. The dead were properly buried with a memorial sculptured especially for the KIAs while the wounded were in good hands. To top it all, the eccentric Kazekage, Gaara, much to everyone's surprise and utter relief, returned on his own three months ago, though in Ino's opinion, his behavior has been getting suspiciously more eccentric than ever... ...

Anyway, peace and business has resumed and now, even Konoha shinobis can be seen almost omesickness suddenly overwhelmed her and she felt this desperate need for the moment of finality of this mission to arrive. She can't wait to feel the grounds of Konoha beneath her, to breathe in the air of familiarity, to hear their home birds chirping in the mornings, to feel the balmy breeze caressing every part of her body as she trained on her usual grounds.

But most importantly, she really missed the Konoha folks. Not that the Sand folks are any worse, but didn't they say that family are always the best? She missed her parents and she imagined that her dad would be sweat-dropping from her mom's persistent nagging. She missed Tsunade and she imagined she is having one of her 'breaks' now. She missed Shizune and imagined she would be painstakingly nagging at Tsunade's ears, begging her to get back with her work. She missed Asuma and imagined he would be at a corner enjoying puffs of smoke while watching his Gennin subordinates doing their missions. She missed Izumo, Kotetsu, the kindly folks of the neighborhood and she even missed the noisy irritating kids from the Academy and the super unbelievable thing is, she actually missed Konoha's most perverted geezer, Jiraya as well!

Ino chuckled quietly at the thought when a shadowy figure amongst the crowd caught her attention. Her cheery outlook was immediately replaced by shock and recoomesickness suddenly overwhelmed her and she felt this desperate need for the moment of finality of this mission to arrive. She can't wait to feel the grounds of Konoha beneath her, to breathe in the air of familiarity, to hear their home birds chirping in the mornings, to feel the balmy breeze caressing every part of her body as she trained on her usual grounds.

But most importantly, she really missed the Konoha folks. Not that the Sand folks are any worse, but didn't they say that family are always the best? She missed her parents and she imagined that her dad would be sweat-dropping from her mom's persistent nagging. She missed Tsunade and she imagined she is having one of her 'breaks' now. She missed Shizune and imagined she would be painstakingly nagging at Tsunade's ears, begging her to get back with her work. She missed Asuma and imagined he would be at a corner enjoying puffs of smoke while watching his Gennin subordinates doing their missions. She missed Izumo, Kotetsu, the kindly folks of the neighborhood and she even missed the noisy irritating kids from the Academy and the super unbelievable thing is, she actually missed Konoha's most perverted geezer, Jiraya as well!

Ino chuckled quietly at the thought when a shadowy figure amongst the crowd caught her attention. Her cheery outlook was immediately replaced by shock and recognition as she stood rooted to the ground.

The figure in question was standing relatively still in a distance among the crowd and staring at her. _She_ was wearing a black cloak adorned with red clouds. _She_ is also wearing a fisherman's hat and most of _her_ face was veiled, with the exception of _her_ left eye. _Her_ shoulder-length brown hair was swaying with motion along with the breeze as Ino felt _her_ smirking at her.

_(It's her!)_ Ino realized, feeling her heart thumping faster and faster against her chest. Suddenly, these words flashed across her mind like a bolt of lightning _- "Have Sakura heal her."_

"That wasn't a dream..." Ino muttered as her mind involuntarily wanders back to earlier where she was down with delirium in the hospital.

**-Flashback-**

She was down with fatigue initially, which soon developed into fever. As the wounded were many and most of the wards were already packed, she had to share a ward with Temari, who had a ward all by herself because of her volatile temper.

For as long as Temari came into the picture, Ino had never liked this Sandy woman.

Not that Temari has done anything harm to her but she just doesn't like the way she talked, the way she walked, the way she carried herself and her fashion sense simply sucks!

Using her _noble_ Sand ambassador status as a perfect excuse, she always liked to stick around Shikamaru and act as if they are the best team around, for whatever mission Shikamaru undertook, she is always involved! And whenever she tried to talk to Shikamaru, this proud woman would always put her down. ALWAYS! And the hurtful part was that the super idiot Shikamaru would somewhat agree with her and dismissed her away as if she was some dust getting his way! Though sometimes... sometimes he would... _anyway!_ There was never once she felt him on her side. Instead, she felt him drifting further and further away from h.. them. Shika-Ino-Chouji, they were the originals! Since Temari's appearance, everything changed and it totally pissed her off!

And it didn't help matters when Shikamaru looked pretty upset upon learning her sorry condition. And she found herself somehow gloating at Temari when she knew that she was paralyzed from head to toe... Thanks to Sakura. In her opinion, it was a fate worse than death.

**-End of Flashback-**

Sakura.

Thinking of this lady in question, Ino looked at the wind chime in her hand. As it clinked in accordance with her hand movement, the dried sakura petals reminded her of her best friend since childhood.

_(I guess the person I missed the most is Sakura.)_

The words played over her mind once more - _"Have Sakura heal her."_

Ino jolted her head up at the crowd that instant, but the cloaked figure was already gone with the wind. Staring at no one in particular, Ino is set, friend or foe, she is going to seek this Akatsuki member out. And the first clue lies in of course, Sakura, since they were from_ the same organization._

She flashbacked again in the hospital when Temari and her were in their usual sarcastic moods when Ino felt the strain in her head and called upon a truce. She was about to fall asleep when she heard Temari whispered furtively, "There's someone."

Before Ino knew it, Temari passed out.

Ino hardly had her eyes open when she felt a warm hand on her forehead. Then she heard a female voice, "I see."

"Who-" Ino barely made a whisper.

"Shh."

"What-"

"I'm healing you. Stay quiet."

Ino knew it was true when she started feeling alive again. She felt the hand slipping away and when she opened her eyes, her savior was already facing her with her back.

From the way her head turned from side to side with her hands pressing critically on Temari's body, Ino reckoned she is accessing Temari's condition.

She then took the chance to access her. The first thought of her being Sakura crossed out when she saw strands of brown hair lurking behind her fisherman's hat. How was that possible anyway? The last she heard from her sensei was that Sakura was still in critical coma. She focused on her face instead. She tried to catch a glimpse of her looks, but realized her face was veiled as it was obvious just from looking at her sides.

It was then Ino thought the cloak looked familiar. And in that instant, the word _'Akatsuki'_ registered in her mind.

Ino froze. An Akatsuki member was here yet was left undetected! Either Shikamaru and gang are sleeping or this one in front of her is simply on a different league as them!

Ino stayed flat on her bed, unmoved as she tried to figure a way out. She can't go heads on with her, for she is still short on chakra. Not to mention that feebleness still plagued her. She can't scream. It will just get herself instantly killed or worse, a whole lot more along with her. So the only way out now is perhaps to reason with her, since she seems to mean no harm. If she was to cause more destruction to the Sands, she would have heard news but so far, there was none. If she was to kill her, she would have done so instead of treating her.

"Finished your assessment?" The Akatsuki member tilted her head slightly to Ino when she spoke, causing Ino's heart to skip a beat. Can she read her mind!

_(Shit! Did she perform some jutsu on me while I was distracted!)_

The Akatsuki member gave a snort, before turning her attention at Temari, "Do you want to save her?"

Ino frowned. What is she trying to say? Ino felt offended as she tried to sit up from her bed. "Well, should we say, _can you_ heal her?" Ino folded her arms with her legs crossed, giving a humph with her eyes narrowed. "Don't think by showing off your superficial medical skills would convince me that! Even Tsunade-sen-"

"I didn't say I can." The lady interjected with a calm and somewhat nonchalant attitude. But Ino thought she sensed amusement in her voice as well. She was about to retort when the lady voiced again, "But I know there is a person who can."

Ino closed her mouth in response, assessing the credibility of what she just said. And the next thing happened so fast that Ino was unable to produce any defensive reaction. She felt her eyes closing and her body falling back on her bed as she vaguely caught the veiled Akatsuki member facing her.

And the last words she heard before passing out was _"Have Sakura heal her."_

**-End of Flashback-**

"It's not wise to stay in the crowd when you're unwell, you know."

Ino was reeled back to reality when she whirled around to find Shikamaru standing right behind her. Her gaze went to the ground.

Shikamaru thought it was weird. Usually, Ino would retort or somehow answer him. Maybe her fever or fatigue has gotten into her but still, Shikamaru finds that Ino's recent behavior is arousing his suspicions. He can't help but feels that Ino is distancing herself from him, whom he can't figure out why and it's disturbing him. He started to wonder what has he done or said to cause such change in Ino's attitude towards him... ... ... ... ... ... supposedly... ... none.

Women are the most troublesome AND unpredictable creatures, Shikamaru concluded finally. But still, he can't help but worry over her. He caught her walking aimlessly in the streets earlier when the gang was eating in the restaurant that Ino passed by. She met this oba-san with a collection of wind chimes in her hands and she received one with a charming smile. She was smiling to herself when her hands suddenly dropped to her sides and the smile on her suddenly died. It's like she saw someone in the crowd but she didn't move. After a moment, she played with the wind chime in her hand, as if nothing happened. It was then Shikamaru got suspicious and decided to check her out.

"Ino." Shikamaru started to say. In a quick move of hands, Shikamaru tried to place a hand on Ino's temple, but she managed to dodge it by smacking his hand away.

Shikamaru frowned.

"What's the matter with you? Something is wrong and you're not telling me."

"I'm fine!" Ino snapped, feeling an unknown irritation creeping up her mind whenever Shikamaru tried to get this up close and personal with her.

When Shikamaru stood there saying nothing, Ino thought she is letting her emotions getting the better of her, which she knows she shouldn't. Shinobis must not show any emotion in any situation and have to put the mission as his first priority. Isn't that what's taught to her?

"I'm still feeling a little unwell, alright. I only come out to get some fresh air."

"I see."

Both remained silent for a moment, before Shikamaru brought up _the one topic _that Ino hated the most.

"So how's Temari?"

Ino bit her lip, her grip on her wind chime tightened as she snapped, "Why don't you go see her yourself!"

Has the gap between them become so wide that they can only talk about Temari, Temari and Temari! He has been fussing over her since the day they were in the Hidden Village of Sands and DAMN! SHE HAD ENOUGH!

Shikamaru's brows creased into a scowl. Just what the hell is the matter with Yamanaka Ino! Is it so wrong to ask about a friend who happened to share the same ward with her? She has been acting hot and cold towards him for these past three months and hell, ten out of ten times, it was him who gave way! And YES! HE HAD ENOUGH!

"Fine!" Shikamaru answered with a growl of anger, throwing his hands up before turning his back to walk away from the temperamental woman. So much for worrying about her!

"Fine!" Ino rejoined, obliviously jerking the wind chime in her hand, causing it to tinkle more than it should as she too, walked away in the opposite direction, the Akatsuki kunoichi all but forgotten.

-+-+-+-+-+-

The Akatsuki kunoichi who was on Ino's mind a while ago narrowed her visible left eye to her left.

She was on her way to Konoha BUT _someone_ is hindering her.

At first, she thought it would be either Konoha or the Sand trailing after her, but then she crossed the possibility out.

If Ino had already told on her, they wouldn't just send _one_ shinobi after her, wouldn't they? And it couldn't be Ino herself as well. The blonde lass shouldn't have enough chakra yet to trail her this far. Besides…

_This one_ has been following her for quite some time already. Most probably from the moment she stepped on the grounds of the Sands.

She murmured an expletive. _This tracker_ is also pretty good.

She was only able to detect him now.

When she thought she lost him days ago.

Weighing the situation, she decided to feign ignorance about it. She needs to get to Sakura in the shortest time possible and since _this trailer_ showed no signs of wanting to step out of the shadows, why not just continue with what she has to do?

Yeah. Waking Sakura is her topmost priority now. As long as their mole remained sleeping beauty, they will never accomplish what they set out to do.

So _this one_, would have to wait.

She leaped swiftly from tree to tree, using the moonlight as her guide to the place where she used to call _home_.

-+-+-+-+-

Uchiha Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the Akatsuki kunoichi moving adroitly somewhere in front of him. Determining the route she is taking, Sasuke reckoned she is most likely heading for Konoha.

And the discovery totally repulsed him.

That was one place that reminded him how weak he can be. It was also a condemnable place that the Uchiha swore never to return.

But, why was she going there? Sasuke started to wonder.

Earlier, he was monitoring the situation of the Sands in and out. Simply put, he was in the Sands for as long as Naruto and gang were. Although he was careful, there were also times where he was nearly discovered. But he managed to get away before he was really discovered.

Days came and go and just when Sasuke started losing his patience, she appeared.

Keeping a very low profile, she _lurked_ among the people, seemingly assessing the village as she moved around with disguises. Sasuke immediately recognized her identity the moment he caught her with the infamous cloak and hat, which she cleverly disguised the minute she was in the Sands. And he noticed she was deliberately avoiding _the ten of them_, for whenever anyone of them came near, she would always slip away and observed them in a safe distance. That's when his curiosity was piqued. Why was she avoiding them?

And she was pretty good, in Sasuke's estimation. She sensed he was following her the moment he was on his toes but all she did was to get away from him instead of challenging him.

Again, she shunned.

Atypical, considering she was one of the Akatsuki's.

And she did one unexpected thing that totally baffled Sasuke.

She actually treated Ino.

And left.

Her actions were totally off the line, in Sasuke's opinion, which is why he decided to stay in the shadows with the intention of finding out what her motives were. Of course, there were also other reasons. Tracking a shinobi in the same organization as_ Itachi_, it would be easier to acquire his whereabouts, rather than hopelessly wishing that he had some unfinished business with the Sands.

It was almost dawn now and Sasuke kept his watchful eyes on the kunoichi. She was constantly moving throughout the night, only taking short rests from time to time. Her hastiness in getting to Konoha only baffled Sasuke all the more.

Suddenly, the thoughts linked fittingly in his mind.

Was she going for Sakura?

Before he could help himself, he threw a kunai at one of the trees that the kunoichi was about to pass.

Startled by the sudden move, the kunoichi halted and swiveled around to face him. Sasuke landed on a branch not afar from her and they stared at each other for a moment.

"You finally decided to show." The kunoichi simply stated. She raised an eyebrow when she recognized the pair of crimson cold eyes staring right at her.

_(So it's Itachi's younger brother, Uchiha Sasuke. No wonder…) _

Sasuke smirked. "So you know." Then he narrowed his eyes. "You're heading to Konoha, what's your purpose?"

"You think I'll tell?" The kunoichi countered with a hint of sarcasm. "It's none of your business anyway."

Sasuke clenched his fists. It's none of his business? Perhaps she was right. It was indeed none of his business now when it comes to Konoha. But when Sakura comes into the picture... … … … … he is making it his business, period.

"That's not for you to decide." Sasuke stated.

The kunoichi lifted her fisherman's hat and looked at Sasuke with a slightly tilted head. She was wearing, Sasuke noticed, a ring on her right hand ring finger that stated 'medic' in kanji.

"You're contradicting, _Sasuke-kun_." Strands of her shoulder-length brown hair got into her way and she brushes it off, her unmasked left eye never leaving the younger Uchiha. "What is your purpose?"

_(I should have expected she knows me. Hn…? Is the scratched emblem of her forehead protector the… the Leaf…? )_ Sasuke thought with surprise and tried to keep his patience in check. This kunoichi has a way with words and it is irritating him. Not to mention he had no recollection of her being a shinobi of Konoha. "Identify yourself. And _that_, was my question to you. Answer it or die."

"So what answer would you like to have?" The kunoichi answered, shrewdly bypassing Sasuke's question.

Sasuke gritted his teeth and his stare intensified. He can't believe he is letting this kunoichi leading him by the nose! But he decided to give her One. Last. Chance.

"The truth." Sasuke said.

The kunoichi snickered. "You can't handle the truth."

That's it!

The nerve in Sasuke snapped as he lunged at her with a growl. "I assumed you choose death!"

BUT when his fatal blow was only an inch away…

"I'm going for Sakura." The kunoichi stated calmly.

Sasuke froze his moves.

And if truth be told, his moves actually froze _her_ blood.

_(That was some impressive speed he got there… One second late means bye-bye for me… and he didn't even activate his Sharingan…_ _I'm glad I hit the point. Damn…looks like the rumors about him are true… … … … Just how are you going to deal with him huh, Itachi…?)_

"You're going to assassinate her?" Sasuke hissed, getting straight to the point.

The kunoichi stayed quiet and studied Sasuke while weighing the situation she was in. Meeting Uchiha Sasuke was certainly unexpected. She decided she mustn't fight him, for she needed her charka for Sakura. Escaping was also out of the question. Because if that worked out, NOW wouldn't be happening. But she noticed he was pretty uptight about Sakura…

_(He stopped when I mentioned Sakura. Now he even wants to know what I'm going to do to her. Wait… is that concern I saw in his eyes? If that's the case…. …)_

"Answer me!" Sasuke growled and grabbed her up before slamming her down onto the tree trunk.

The kunoichi flinched from the pain but made no defensive reaction. Instead, she lowered her gaze and chortled, quivering her shoulders as she allowed herself to be pinned by Sasuke on the trunk.

Sasuke yanked her up and hissed, "What's so funny, bitch?" before delivering a thigh kick towards the kunoichi's abdomen, causing her to choke.

Still, Sasuke was baffled as to why she made no efforts to defend herself.

The kunoichi looked up. "You are so hotheaded, Sasuke-kun. The two of you are as different as day and night…" The kunoichi's visible left eye twinkled with intent, "You and Itachi that is."

Immediately, she got flung away, in which she reflexively grabbed on to one of the tree branches and gazed at the fuming Sasuke, who already had one of his fists against the tree, a sign to show he was really pissed about _the comment_. She didn't expect he would fall into such petty tricks but she guessed the elder Uchiha does deserve such huge reaction after all.

_(Getting myself killed only defeats my purpose as well. I guess I should stop the provocation and get on with business…)_

Sasuke glared daggers at the Akatsuki kunoichi. He hated to the core when people compared him with Itachi. It's not like they are twins or whatever it is for the matter. So what if they are both from the Uchiha family?

The fact stayed.

He killed the whole Uchiha clan and he is the avenger of their clan. Are they really that blind to see this fact?

As his stare intensified, Sasuke decided he would make the kunoichi regret that she ever existed. He would torture her beyond her wildest imagination and make her tell Itachi's whereabouts, before letting her rot in the wilds without a burial ground to rest her soul. She would rot in hell for eternity, Yeah, that's what she gets when she provoked _this _Uchiha.

"Why don't we cooperate?"

"…" Sasuke was a bit taken aback for he didn't expect this coming from her. He narrowed his eyes. What the hell is she talking now? She is suggesting collaboration? For what!

_(Is she up to some tricks?)_ Sasuke thought then.

"You know, you help me and I help you." The kunoichi stated, as if Sasuke didn't understand her words. "To tell you the truth, I'm not going to assassinate Sakura." The kunoichi paused, rearranging her outfit. "Instead, I'm going to save her."

"…"

The kunoichi paused again, this time observing the expressions of Sasuke, whose scowl deepened with his jaws tightened. "As you might know, Sakura is in critical coma and may die any time. Not only she suffered two Sharingan attacks, she also has some old wounds inside her. That's why she is in such terrible state right now."

"…"

The kunoichi smrked at Sasuke's hesitation. "And mind you, even the medical specialist, Tsunade, can't do anything about it."

"…"

"If you think I'm lying, that's fine with me. But-" The kunoichi drawled deliberately, her expressive left eye beaming with anticipation. "If you aid me in treating Sakura, in exchange, I will tell you where Itachi is."

"…"

"Hn?" The kunoichi thought it was weird. Wasn't he supposed to be excited about the offer? Why was he acting so calm about it? Though, she wasn't really expecting his help about intruding into Konoha but since she can't shake him off… that's the best thing she can do now.

"You expect me to believe that?" Sasuke countered skeptically.

_(So he was still suspicious of me. Well, he should be.)_ "No. But it's all up to you really. Help and we all gain or hinder and we all lose."

Sasuke gave it a serious thought. "What old wounds were you talking about Sakura? And why are you helping her? Didn't you guys want her dead? How did she get involved with the Akatsuki in the first place?"

The kunoichi cocked her eyebrow. She didn't thought he was the inquisitive type. And she couldn't well tell him the truth. To feed him with perfunctory answers was also not an option. He was too witty for that. She signed, "First, she suffered an unknown mind technique four years ago, which she would suffer attacks from time to time."

"From who?" Sasuke interrupted.

"I don't know. When we got her, she was already like that."

The Uchiha lowered his gaze and the kunoichi thought he had him there. "Second, it was Itachi and his gang who wanted her dead, not mine."

Sasuke looked up and frowned, his temper beginning to show.

"To tell you the truth, I'm not supposed to go to Sakura. The organization would be hot on my heels if they know about this." The kunoichi lied cleverly, not forgetting to close her eye as if on rue.

"Then why are you doing this?" Sasuke asked.

"Sakura was on my team. I can't bear to see her like that. And like you, I hated Itachi."

"And?" Sasuke probed, his voice devoid of emotions as he straightened his shoulders.

"And she got involved with the Akatsuki because of you. That's what she told me. She wanted to help you in your revenge."

Thr kunoichi watched as Sasuke muttered something under his breath. Inwardly, she knew she scored victory against Uchiha Sasuke. "That's my answers to your question. Believe it or not, the decision is yours."

"Let's get this over and done with." Sasuke replied coldly, his gaze wondering upfront where a couple of Konoha buildings came into view.


	9. Homecoming II

**Chapter 9: Homecoming II**

**It's good to be home... isn't it..?**

Sasuke narrowed his suspicious eyes at his collaborator standing relatively still in front of the cenotaph. From the way her attention was concentrated on the monument, Sasuke couldn't tell whether she has already sensed him watching her on one of the trees for a full five minutes.

They were supposed to survey Konoha by themselves and meet here at the stipulated time to plan the next move. Together, as she pointed out, will easily attract attention from the seasoned, available jounins, and the last thing they would want is to have them hot on their heels.

Whatever.

He felt comfortable working alone anyway.

But by the looks of it, it seemed to him that she hasn't done _her_ part of the job. The reason why he arrived earlier was because his luck was down – Jiraya.

He was near his areas of responsibility and Sasuke knew better than to try his luck with the Sannin. Not that he felt inferior, but it's stupid to drain your chakra on some needless battles when you know the _big _one is coming, right? Although Sasuke was confident of defeating the old geezer, at the back of his mind, he knew the old one could do some considerable damage to him as well. And yes, he would fight out with Itachi after this episode and he needs to conserve as much chakra as possible to feed his Sharingan needs.

Only a dobe like Naruto would do something impulsive like that.

Naruto.

Sasuke had to shake his head in vehement dislike over this stupidest shinobi ever in history. He focused on the Akatsuki kunoichi instead. She looked distant, like she is going through some reminiscing in her mind. But just how long is she going to stand there?

As the fallen leaves worked into a dance in the air, it suddenly dawned on him that here was the one place where he first started training with Naruto and Sakura as a full-pledged shinobi… as Team Seven.

**-Flashback-**

Sasuke remembered they waited forever for their sensei to show up at the stipulated time – 5 A.M.

It was not until the sun rose high and above the sky before their laid-back sensei finally decided to show up. After giving some lame excuse, in which Naruto and Sakura shouted his head off, did he started the survival training that the three of them was excited about.

"Alarm set at twelve pm." Kakashi's nonchalant attitude irritated him back then. He wriggled two bells from his pockets and showed it to the three of them. "Today's mission is to get one of these bells from me. Whoever can't will have no lunch."

"What!" Sakura squealed, seeming to be the most unbelievable out of the three.

"I'm going to tie you there, and eat lunch in front of you." Kakashi continued, ignoring the disobliging looks on his three students as he pointed towards the shaded area under a tree.

Sasuke understood then, Kakashi's 'advice' before this training. "So that's why he said…"

"Don't eat breakfast." Sakura finished, catching on the ball as she slouched her shoulders in a disheartened manner. Suddenly, her eyes sparkled in question as she looked at Kakashi. "Wait a minute, why are there only two bells?"

"Since there's only two, at least one will be tied to the log." Kakashi answered with a hint of amusement in his voice. "That person will fail since he failed to complete the mission, and will have to go back to the academy."

He paused to observe each of their reactions. Each had their own kind of expressions on their face. But they were fretful alright. Kakashi snickered inwardly at the thought of that. They couldn't be any cuter.

"It might be just one or all three." Kakashi said, rising the uptightness surrounding the team. "It is alright to can use shurikens against me."

His unmasked right eye shifted from one student to another as he raised the bells in his hand to his eye level, "You won't be able to get this unless you have the will to kill me."

"But that's too dangerous, Sensei!" Sakura blurted out, though she seemed to be the last to recover from what was just announced to them.

"Yeah! You can't even dodge the chalk eraser!" Naruto interjected with a forced smile, trying his best effort to dissipate the anxiety rising in his nerves.

Kakashi cocked an eyebrow. "In society, those who are weak tend to complain more. Just ignore the guy with the lowest score."

Naruto's temper was pricked that instant. Kakashi was obviously quoting him. His agitated stance showed it all though Kakashi ignored it. "We're going to start after I give the signal!"

Right after their sensei said that, Naruto dashed towards Kakashi with a kunai in his hand, his intention obvious. But the jounin surprised them all by appearing right behind Naruto in a blink of an eye, one of his hands holding firmly on Naruto's head while the other simply grabbed his impulsive student's other hand with the kunai.

The sharpened weapon glistered threateningly right behind Naruto, barely inches away from his head. Sakura gasped while Sasuke's fists tightened, bothered by the fact that Kakashi turned out to be stronger than he thought he was.

"Don't get so hasty. I didn't say start yet." Kakashi drawled, acting as though nothing out of the ordinary happened. The looks on his three students showed that they finally got the notion of this whole survival training and it pleased him to see that they were getting serious.

"But it looks like you have the will to kill me now." Kakashi smirked. "I think I can finally start liking you three."

The three immediately readied themselves when their sensei braced his feet apart.

"We're going to start… ready... Start!"

**-End of Flashback-**

"You should be more furtive when lurking in other people's village."

The last words of Kakashi back then echoed in Sasuke's mind as a familiar voice reeled him back to his current situation. His gaze was immediately directed towards the source and he raised an eyebrow when he saw one of the characters that were on his mind a while ago standing a distance away from the Akatsuki kunoichi.

Hatake Kakashi.

Damn. Konoha really made him sick… and weak. He got too carried away in his own reminiscing to realize the gray-haired shinobi was there barely seconds before he spoke.

Or has he underestimated the famous copy nin? Perhaps he got… stronger? After all, he was reputed a genius of his own time.

Sasuke didn't like this assumption and his jaw muscles flexed instinctively at that. He watched the kunoichi bend her knees to rub her fingers over the cenotaph, behaving as though Kakashi wasn't even there.

Kakashi lifted the side of his forehead protector that masked his Sharingan eye, while his hostile stare never left the intruder of his village.

"It's rude of you to use _that_ against me… It was I who implanted his eye in you after all." The kunoichi stated, her slouched back still facing Kakashi. Sasuke thought he felt the kunoichi's satisfaction when Kakashi stood there, clearly dumbfounded by her words. Sasuke's curiosity was piqued that instant. Kakashi had never told the team how he got the eye that was never meant for him. But now, he would know.

"Team Six." The kunoichi drawled, her hands still lingering on the cenotaph. "Hatake Kakashi. Uchiha Obito. Inuzuka…"

"Rin." Kakashi interjected, barely finding his voice. Is that her? Is that _really_ her?

"This place certainly brings back memories, don't you agree, my friend?" She whirled around, her unmasked left eye piercing through Kakashi though her voice sounded cheerful. Kakashi was nowhere better. His scowl could fell a pine tree.

The two teammates finally met after the passing of two decades, though both looked unhappy about it. It didn't take long for Sasuke to figure out that something unfortunate must have happened between them and she left, and now here they are, crossing each other's paths once again. Wait a minute… seasoned, available jounins… did she know Kakashi was in Konoha beforehand? Did she lure Kakashi here to settle the old scores between them? Isn't she the one who wanted to stay out of trouble? Isn't she the one who keeps saying Sakura is their top priority? What the hell is she trying to pull? The pool of questions keeps running in Sasuke's mind and he decided to wait. Popping out of nowhere this moment only leads to nowhere. He wanted to know more.

"Why are you with the Akatsuki?" Kakashi asked straight to the point, clearly furious at the fact. Things shouldn't turn out this way. She should be kind. She should be dead. Hell, he wished she was dead instead of standing in front of him now as an enemy, as a traitor.

"Why was Obito dead?" Rin countered skeptically, taking a threatening step forward.

"That won't work on me. Answer me."

"I already did."

"He certainly won't want to see you in this state."

"I'm in a perfectly well state." Rin retorted. "You still couldn't say his name after all these years huh, Kakashi? How pathetic."

"Nobody wanted it to happen. You were there, you should know."

"Yeah, I know. I know I made the right decision when I left Konoha."

"That was a stupid decision. I can't believe you actually hoodwinked-"

"Who are you to say?" Rin was shouting now, her fists clenched at her sides.

"If Obito was still alive, he'll agree with me."

"Like hell he would! He's always at odds with you. And mind you, he liked me! Why, he might even follow me."

"You just insulted him." Kakashi stated, shaking his head over the mere possibility. "He will _never_ bend towards people who will harm the people he cared about."

"Why don't you confirm with him?" Rin surprised Kakashi and Sasuke by lifting her mask over her right eye. Sasuke, all the while eavesdropping attentively to their heated conversation, had to activate his Sharingan before he was sure of what he's seeing. Her right eye was red.

Her right eye was a Sharingan.

"Sharingan…" Kakashi mumbled with dilated eyes. How the hell did she get that!

Suddenly, Rin held back. And Sasuke thought it is about time that she comes to terms with their initial motive to Konoha – Sakura.

Though he was frustrated with the ambiguous conversation, he thought Sakura was far more important. From what he heard during his 'stay' in the Sands, Sakura's time is drawing near and DAMN this kunoichi by the name of Rin! Isn't she the one that confirmed that disturbing fact with him? Isn't she the one who claimed to be the one and only hope to Sakura? Isn't she the one who kept avoiding clashes so as to save her chakra for Sakura? SO, what in thunder is she trying to do now? Get herself killed and drag Sakura along with her?

He wouldn't allow that. As such…

Now is the perfect time to intrude.

In agitation, Sasuke teleported away from the tree. Kakashi sensed a presence and immediately tripled his guard. He knew he should have expected company whenever an Akatsuki was spotted, for they never embarked on one-man operations. And today proved to be no exception. Despite that, he was still taken aback by the company beside Rin. He wanted to believe that it was Itachi glaring at him but the physique difference proved to be the determining factor.

Itachi was the shorter one and has the lighter shade of hair. And the forehead… the forehead of the Uchiha before him was bare…

No doubt about it.

It was Sasuke.

"You do what you have to do." Sasuke suggested, his Sharingan eyes fixed on Kakashi while he sidestepped Rin, shielding Kakashi's view of her. "I'll take him."

Rin hesitated for a moment, shifting furtive glances from one man to another before disappearing in a blink of the eyes. Kakashi tried to follow her, but was stopped by Sasuke's shurikens at his feet.

"Your opponent is me." Sasuke stated.

Kakashi crunched his brows tighter.

He didn't expect to see Rin, and he certainly didn't expect to see Sasuke either.

He was _almost _sure that _they_ were here to finish Sakura when he spotted Rin-in-disguise among the crowd in the streets. The ANBU were immediately notified before he followed Rin all the way here. Needless to say, the elites must be scouting every inch of Konoha now, not to mention the security surrounding Sakura must have already increased tenfold. The village was already guarded against _them_ after Sakura's homecoming but Rin and Sasuke… they were totally out of the picture to begin with!

Kakashi shifted his feet, and in his usual indolent tone, he said, "Well, I guess that couldn't be helped. I'm curious as to how you've developed over the years as well."

He wriggled a bell from his pocket and showed it to Sasuke. "The rules stay the same."

Sasuke smirked.

"If you don't come at me with the intent to k-"

"Cut the crap."


	10. Complicated Heart

**Chapter 10: Complicated Heart**

**We have changed but we are still the same...**

**

* * *

**

Sakuya opened her eyes, but the bright lights made her squint. Where the hell was she? She couldn't summon up enough energy to move. She thought she might be in bed. It felt soft, warm.

"Where am I?" Her mouth was so dry, she slurred the question.

"Konoh… You're… You're in Konoha Hospital." The stammer came from beside her, but Sakuya couldn't recognize him. In fact, she hadn't expected his presence.

It was obvious that the boy was shocked, for his actions were completely frozen. He had an apple in his right hand, which Sakuya thought he was going to munch if not for her awakening. Thanks to her, the apple now hung in mid-air in his hand parallel to his wide opened mouth.

The boy, not older than twelve, in Sakuya's estimation, had spiky auburn hair that matches his emerald eyes, a pair of emerald eyes that looked exactly like hers.

The two locked each other in the eyes for several seconds before Sakuya turned her attention to the boy's outfit. He was wearing a pair of white shorts and a red shirt as his top. A red shirt adorned in white outlines with loose turtle neckline. And what really caught Sakuya's attention is the emblem imprinted on the sleeves – The Circle.

"Who are you?" Sakuya asked in a rather cold voice.

"Ne-chan…" Sakuya heard the boy's murmur in what she perceived as unbelievable?

His apple fell to his lap, before rolling its way down somewhere under the bed.

Feeling rather disconcerted, Sakuya closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind, but realized it was a futile effort because her mind was blank in the first place! What the hell happened to her? She couldn't remember. She brought the back of her right hand to her forehead instead. When she opened her eyes again, the boy was still there, standing beside the bed and pulling the covers up around her midriff.

When he realized that Sakuya was staring, he straightened his shoulders.

"I think I go inform the doc-"

"Water…" Sakuya interjected, at the same time reminding herself to ask him all the necessary questions as to how she ended up in the hospital after she rid the dryness in her throat. "I need a glass of water."

The boy hurried around the bed to the bedside table, poured a quarter full glass of water and handed it to her. Sakuya struggled to sit up. Instinctively, the boy placed the glass back on the table and reached for the controls to push a button. The head of the bed slowly rose. Sakuya kept her eyes on the boy as she took the glass of water from his hands. She took a sip while feeling this sense of indescribable affinity with the boy beside her. Ne-chan? Was that what he called her? Sakuya handed the glass back to the boy and was about to clarify with him when her senses discerned the environment. Though it looked like any other ordinary hospital ward, Sakuya was certain they were not alone.

Someone was watching them.

In fact, in the genjutsu way. They were in some kind of protective genjutsu that works like a cage. It allowed the user to watch his targets at the same time protect it from outside forces. Outsiders can't get in, nor can the 'beneficiaries' get out. Or worse, _either side will be invisible to each other_.

"What's wrong?" The boy asked in concern, seeing that Sakuya hesitated in her words with her guard suddenly raised. Her emerald eyes scanned cautiously around the ward. The boy tugged on Sakuya's hospital gown when latter doesn't seem to pay him much attention.

"Shh." Sakuya hushed, grabbing his hand in one of hers. She can find the 'opening' if she looked closer enough…

The boy, catching the hint, stayed quiet. And Sakuya thought the boy looked… glad?

The room turned dead silent. Only the dripping of the glucose drip is evident. A good four minutes passed when a frustrated Sakuya pulled off the tubes that connected her body with the medical apparatuses. She can't believe, or rather, accept the fact that she has become so weak that she couldn't even dispel a mere mediocre genjutsu! She struggled to stand, but fall back onto the bed instead, with the boy trying to help her out. Sakuya smacked his hands away, feeling her angriness directed more to herself rather than the 'helpful' boy. She doesn't need any help from anyone! Only the weaklings need help and SHE is definitely NOT a weakling!

"Are you alright?" The boy asked, standing in front of Sakuya, looking concerned.

"Kid." Sakuya's voice was low. And so was her head.

"Kyosuke." The boy introduced, thinking she must have discovered the genjutsu barrier they were in. And he thought that was quite a feat for her, despite the frailness.

Sakuya couldn't care less about who he is. "How did you get in?"

Kyosuke gulped at her words. It sounded deadly cold.

Things are not looking good. Judging from the hostility in her eyes, Kyosuke was sure, in another minute or two; his _elder sister_ with losing patience would be executing her escape.

And indeed she was when she abruptly grabbed him by the collar and shoved him near. But she grimaced and loosened her hold when the glaring rays of sunlight illuminating behind him were flashed onto her pallid face. She stood up from the bed as she shoved Kyosuke out of her way, her gaze directed at the square opening beside the bed.

Right. The window. That's the bright lights that made her eyes squint when she awoke. Sakuya plodded wearily towards the window, and was stunned by the scenery outside.

There were buildings with all shapes and sizes and the streets were bustling with life as the folks interacted and buzzed around like ants.

Konoha hospital… that was what the brat told her. So this must be Konoha she is looking at!

It's all coming back to her now.

Kyosuke tensed as he stared at the back of Sakuya. She better not… now, where are the ANBUs when they are needed! Aren't they supposed to watch her like a hawk? Aren't they supposed to do something NOW?

Kyosuke thought perhaps he could provide some distraction. "Onechan-"

Sakuya cut him off, "I see." her stance unmoved. She could see 'the outside' from here, which means…

_(Too late. Shit!)_ Kyosuke thought, starting towards her. She must have discovered…

"Kai!" Kyosuke heard her. And he thought he was going to lose her when two ANBU appeared by her side just in time, holding her down by the shoulders.

"Sakura-san, it's best that you cooperate with us." One of them said.

Then, something from the outside caught their attention.

-+-+-+-+-

Rin cursed her luck. Things are getting out of hands and it's all her fault.

At least a dozen teams of Konoha shinobis are after her now. Rin looked up, front, left and right… Hell! _They_ are everywhere!

Even the civilians of Konoha were sprung to attention at the commotion they were causing. She heard one of them ask, "What's going on? Are we being attacked?"

"No." The jounin lied. "We're only having the drill as usual."

Rin walked away in the opposite direction in her disguise as a kid she saw earlier, deducing Kakashi must be the informant to her arrival. And damn herself for that! Why? Because she allowed him to!

Rin worried her lips.

Getting to Sakura will be ten times much tougher now.

She left Sakura alone when she realized she is in a genjutsu barrier surrounded by the Konoha best. But that is only part of the why. The other part, which totally puts her off, is that the _Fifth Hokage_ was near.

She was checking on Sakura and Rin doesn't want to risk being anywhere near _her_ since she was alone. So she decided to leave the arena and roam the streets until she devised a plan. Or rather, until the _hot-blooded old hag_ left. Everything will be much easier without _her_ interference, period.

And that's when she met the one person she least wanted to meet.

Kakashi.

Rin recognized him the moment he appeared. How could she not? His charisma, his hair, his physique, his strength, his scent, his chakra, his everything, was etched deeper in her than she thought. The laid-back jounin was strolling down the streets with a hand full of groceries, the other simply occupied with a book… 'Flirting Paradise Volume Eight'… is that it…? Well, she didn't know he would read _such_ a book!

Anyway, she was indeed surprised to meet him, not that she didn't expect him in the village, but to see him like that, in a casual manner without a care in the world, it's so different from the Kakashi she knew. The Kakashi who was always strictly solemn, the Kakashi who was always so distant, the Kakashi who _never stopped and looked back for anyone_…

Kakashi halted his tracks when he saw Anko and Kurenai in proximity. "Yo! You ladies look stunning today!"

Both kunoichi blushed at the comment.

"Stop fooling around, Kakashi!" Kurenai said.

Kakashi… flirts…?

Rin raised an eyebrow, narrowing her eyes over the scene playing in front of her. But leaving surprises in one department, she knew she got to leave now. Because she was sure, in another second or two, her alert ex-ANBU-comrade will bound to notice her, if not locked in target by him already.

And sure enough, Kakashi glanced her way in the middle of his chitchat with Kurenai and Anko but found that the suspicious figure was already gone with the wind...

And the episode leading after that, at the training ground near the cenotaph, just made her all the more guilty towards Sakura…

Brushing Kakashi aside, Rin looked around her once again. Screw _them_, _they_ are still everywhere.

"Gai!"

She heard one of _them_ bellowed, and she glued her eyes on the approaching figure in green. Gai…? Maito… Gai? Rin found it 'breathtaking' that she actually remembered this ludicrous guy as well.

Rin stood rooted to where she was, waiting for Gai to pass her by. As ludicrous as he looked, it never hurts one to be careful, right?

But her hopes of Gai leaving her alone were dashed when he spared her a glance. Rin barely took a step when he called out behind her, "Hisa!"

Rin inwardly winced. He wasn't calling out for her, was he? Nevertheless, she still turned and faced Gai, who came running back to her.

Yes, he was calling out for HER.

Gai knelt down and placed his hands on her petite shoulders. "What are you doing out here?"

Right. She was disguised as a kid, who probably is an academy student, since she doesn't have the forehead protector. Rin opened her mouth to speak, but the wetness in her eyes is irritating her, and so she wiped away the tears of sleepiness built up at the corners of her eyes instead.

Gai thought she looked close to tears.

"You must be looking for Kyosuke! Don't worry about that fellow; I'm sure he's visiting his sister at the hospital! Why don't you run along now?" Gai gave her a pat on the shoulders before nudging her to move. "Go now! Shoo! Shoo!"

Some people just never change, do they?

Rin turned to leave, but something upfront caught their attention.

-+-+-+-+-

Sasuke punched, kicked, punched and kicked again, but Kakashi dodged it all the same. They were surrounded in blazes of red and yellow now, ignited by his Katon Housenka no Jutsu a while ago in a desperate attempt to draw Kakashi out.

In less than a minute, almost the entire forest was in flames.

Sasuke wasn't angry. He was furious.

Ten minutes had passed since the battle begun and yet, he was getting nowhere. Sasuke surmised Kakashi must have discovered he was preserving his chakra, which explained why he kept provoking him like this, "Looks like you've deteriorated, Sasuke. Why, even Naruto does this better than you."

Something in Sasuke snapped. He knew he shouldn't be so worked up over the petty tactics but his mind was suddenly consumed with so much raw fury to think such rationality.

He delivered a couple of shurikens to Kakashi in a flash, which hit the spots only to turn into a log.

Sasuke scowled.

The heat was getting unbearable. Kakashi peered cautiously at Sasuke in a distance through the haze of smoke filling up the air around them. The lad was searching him out amidst the fire with his naked eyes. The fact that he didn't use his Sharingan on him confirmed his suspicions.

Sasuke didn't want to hurt him. Yeah, Kakashi wanted to believe that, but he quickly brushed that absurd thought aside.

Ever since the family tragedy, Sasuke lived for one and one purpose only – To kill the man that murdered his entire clan.

And that was the one same man that has the ability to make his protégé restrain so much in another's battle – so that he could give _his all _in theirs.

It's sad to see that the vengeance just got worse as the years gone by, but come to think of it, he has gotten out of Orochimaru's hands. Now that was something to cheer for.

Judging from the raging fire, Kakashi expected his backup to appear any moment now. He squinted his eyes at Sasuke.

Good. The Uchiha was still there.

But the sudden tinkling of the bell affixed at his waist wavered his judgment. _(Shit!)_

"Looking for me, _sensei_?" Sasuke said from behind.

Kakashi froze.


	11. Sakura, Sakura Not

**Chapter 11: Sakura, Sakura Not**

**There is a fine line between Me, Myself and I...

* * *

**

"You!" She pointed a finger at him.

The command in her voice jarred him, making Kyosuke completely still in his stance.

Sorry for his reaction, Sakuya softened the haunted look on her and sighed, "Stay low."

Then, she was gone.

In less than two seconds, four ANBU appeared from nowhere and leapt out of the window after her.

Kyosuke blinked his eyes. Everything happened too fast for his liking. He turned his attention to the two ANBU sprawled on the floor, unconscious.

Amazing was the only word that came into his developing mind.

The medics burst into the ward shortly after, and Shizune was the last one to enter, though she looked the most flustered. Why, she even shrieked upon realizing Sakura was nowhere to be found.

"Kyosuke-kun! Where is your sister!" Shizune demanded in a near shout.

"She awoke and leapt out of the window." replied Kyosuke anxiously, pointing his finger at the square exit. "Four ANBU went after her." He added as an afterthought.

Shizune let out a gasp but she was quick to recover from her surprise. She turned to the medics checking on the two unconscious ANBU. "How are they?"

"Nothing serious. Just knocked out." One of the medics replied.

Shizune started towards the window, and saw raging flames in a distance. She widened her unbelievable eyes over the fire consuming the forest. Kyosuke came beside her and clenched his hands over the edge of the window upon witnessing the scene.

That was hell big of a fire! All he can see was shades of red and yellow before him and he started to wonder…

"Are we being attacked!" Obliviously, he blurted his thought out.

But his question was blurred by the medics' concern that the Fifth should be informed about it, since she was somewhere out there entertaining the feudal lords, who was here on a visitation.

"Kyosuke-kun!" Shizune yelled over her shoulders as she raced towards the door. "Go to the underground and stay there until further notice!"

The medics hurried out after Shizune, carrying the two unconscious ANBU out with them.

Kyosuke frowned at the 'order'. Underground were meant for the defenseless and he sure doesn't belong in the 'defenseless category'! Hello! He was the number one rookie this year, for God's sake, hasn't anyone realize that! Though it hasn't been officially announced yet, for the graduation ceremony was still two weeks away.

"What are you waiting for, Kyosuke-kun!" One of the medics halted his tracks when he saw Kyosuke unmoved from where he was.

To hide and cower in fear simply wasn't a thing that a Haruno would do, Kyosuke decided. Besides, he doesn't want _the reunion_ to be short-lived. And praying that everything would turn out fine was something girls like his childhood friend, Hisa do.

"I'm going after my one-chan!" Kyosuke announced and leapt out of the window before the medic could stop him.

-+-+-+-+-+-

The chaos came perfectly.

The fire in the distance, the location believed to be near the cenotaph, was causing everyone to be everywhere.

Rin kept her stare on the merciless flames swirling their way to the tip of the taller trees, and found a smirk forming at the corner of her pouted lips. _(Fine work, Sasuke-kun. Fine work indeed.)_

She averted her eyes to Gai. The jounin was making fast plans with the others about the situation. Now that everyone was distracted by the fire, no doubt anyone would bother with her. She turned to walk away as silently as a cat but felt herself _suddenly_ being pulled into someone's embrace. And then, she was flying before she realized that Gai had grabbed her along with his team.

"Let me go!" Rin protested, and tried to struggle but to no avail. Gai proved to be stronger than she thought he was.

"Stay still, Hisa!" Gai ordered while whizzing in the air. "I have to bring you to a place of safety." It was an odd feeling, but Gai thought _Hisa_ was _somewhat_ different today…

Rin face-faulted with a twitch of her eyebrow, not forgetting to roll her eyes heavenward but Gai seemed to fail to notice her exasperation. He was fully occupied with his task at hand. Giving up, Rin released her cat claws on Gai's hands, which was clutching her waist, and closed her eyes instead.

If she had known anything about the man in green, it was his doggedness.

Then Gai came to an abrupt stop, signaling others to move on without him. Rin snapped her eyes open in response and caught sight of a red-haired boy two rooftops away, seemingly in search of someone amidst the chaos.

"Kyosuke!" Gai shouted over her ears and rushed forward. Rin had to rub the stinging sensation his shout caused her ears.

The boy looked their way and sprinted to meet Gai midway. Rin noticed then the clan emblem imprinted on his sleeves – The Circle, the Haruno clan's emblem.

"My sis went missing!" He blurted out worriedly as soon as he can speak.

"How the hell did that happened!" Gai exclaimed, shock evident in his voice. Subconsciously, he released his hold on Hisa…

Kyosuke then gave a brief elucidation of the hospital ward episode.

"She awoke by herself!"

The two turned to look at Hisa. It was her who made that statement. Realizing her inappropriate outburst, Rin quickly masked her shock and said, "I was..surprised. Tsunade-sama said her chances were slim after all."

Rin worried her lower lips. It was simply impossible for Sakura to awaken without her curbing the cursed seal for her. She had _personally_ seen Yuya performing the seal on her, not to say she had played an active role in coming up with the formulation and all, and knew that the seal was deadly enough to send her straight to hell at any teeny-weeny signs of resistance.

_(Just how she managed to do that… … …?)_

"Hisa." Rin heard the name and looked up. She thought she saw a flash of suspicion across the emerald eyes of the red-haired boy by the name of Kyosuke. Why, his hands were already neared his pouches. As for Gai, he was studying her.

"Yes?" Rin answered, taking it all in her stride.

Kyosuke narrowed his eyes. "Activate your Byakugan. It will make it easier for us to seek my sister out."

_(Testing me huh…guess game's over.)_ 'Hisa' stifled a chuckle. "You are a clev-"

Gai cut her off. "KONOHA WHIRLWIND!" and delivered a sudden swift life-costing kick at Hisa, who in a puff of smoke, turned into a brick…

"Replacement technique…" Gai muttered with widened eyes. "That was…"

"One of Konoha's ninjutsu."

Kyosuke swirled around at the voice behind him and there she was, standing smugly a few rooftops away from them. _(That was fast.)_

The imposter was wearing a weird kind of black cloak with red cloud patterns. Her face was masked with the exception of her brown eyes, or eye to be exact. One of them was masked with her scratched Konoha forehead protector, which in other words, she was a traitor.

"It's been a while, Gai." She said, looking at Gai.

Kyosuke could feel her smirking under her mask and he turned to look at the man in green. Gai was rendered speechless. His expression was frozen with shock that Kyosuke thought he might not even be breathing.

"Gai-sensei…" Kyosuke called out in gritted teeth, trying to hold the man together. Now was not the time for space out!

"Rin…" Gai stammered, totally blocking Kyosuke out of the picture. "Is that… you!"

"Yes and no." She gave a snort. "This is the new and improved me."

"…"

Rin spared Kyosuke a glance and taking the chance that Gai was still in shock mode, she charged right at Kyosuke, attempting to hold the boy hostage with a blow in his head. But the sharp boy saw through her ploy and it took a bit of a sparring before he was crushed right on her chest with a kunai pointing threateningly at his neck. Kyosuke tried to break free but the feel of the sharp metal pressed painfully against his neck stopped his struggles.

"What are you doing, Rin!" Gai roared, breaking out of his stupor at last with clenched fists. "THAT WAS ONE OF KONOHA'S PROMISING YOUTH!"

Rin rolled her eyes with a sigh. This guy never changed one bit! "Can't you see I'm trying to kill him?"

"Sakura!" Rin called out using the Utsusemi no Jutsu (Voice Projection Technique) before Gai tried to retort. "Show yourself or your cute little brother will die in your place!"

Teams of Konoha shinobis surrounded them in an instant, and Kyosuke lowered his head in disappointment when he peeked around to see that his sister was nowhere in sight. He cursed himself for being a burden to all and just as his thoughts raced from one to another, Rin jabbed his head up and swung him around, and true enough, the wanted pink-haired kunoichi was standing there, her piercing green eyes fixed on Rin.

Rin gave her the once-over and noticed that she was somewhat different. It was Sakura alright, but her aura, her chakra seemed to rise to another level. As ragged as she may seem with the green hospital gown, she looked perfectly normal... no… healthy is the more appropriate word. And by God, she shouldn't be healthy! She should be unconscious! And she should be needing her help to bring her out of the comatose condition!

Patience, Rin told herself. She would get her answers from her once their _Act One_ was over, though the starting was not quite as expected.

"I see you looked pretty well, Sakura." Rin remarked.

"…"

Kyosuke started to feel afraid. His sister's stare was freaking him out. There was something in her eyes that he couldn't really put into words but it was sending shivers down his spine. And not just him, Kyosuke noticed that anyone who looked her way was having the same reactions as well.

Jounins and chuunins alike, started to fidget in their stances. Even his captor started to tighten her hold around him.

_(Action!)_ Sakuya heard a voice in her head. "Nobody messes with me." She replied in a low voice.

"Kyosuke!"

Sakuya winced inwardly at the interruption. She glanced down and saw a motherly woman in desperate tears. Tsunade's attendant, Shizune was with her.

"Mother!" Kyosuke shouted back and tried to lean forward, but Rin slammed him right back on her chest. "Get away from here!"

_(So it's THE mother.)_ Sakuya thought disdainfully. _(Shizune is here as well… The Tsunade must be somewhere near… Guess I have to put up a real good show now…)_ She pretended to looked confused. "Mother?"

Kyosuke turned to her. "That is our mother, onechan! Don't you remember her!"

"Please don't kill my son!" Sakuya heard _her_ at the same time. She glanced down once more, meeting her green eyes with _her_ mother's equally green ones. She saw her mouthed the name 'Sakura' and Sakuya suddenly felt this urgent need to soothe her, to tell her that everything was going to be just fine. But… but she was not her daughter! She was only pretending to be her! And she was here on a mission and the mission was going to be all it mattered.

She turned back to Rin and in a flash, Kyosuke collapsed breathlessly with widened eyes, feeling this jolting pain in his neck. He felt a short sharp needle in his neck and it was effectively blocking the air from his windpipe. Within seconds, he started to feel numb and darkness started to engulf him, and his last moments were spent refusing to believe that his sister had just killed him without a blink of her eyes…

Sakuya heard a shrilling scream and knew it was the mother. She heard the word 'No' over and over again and saw her collapsing in the arms of Shizune. Rin still haven't let go of _her little brother_, merely clutching his lifeless body as a form of shield from the agitated Konoha shinobis surrounding them. Sakuya knew they must be caught in surprise for her actions. But in time, they will know…

"That was your little brother!" Gai snapped, the first one or most probably the only one who dared to shout at her now. "How could you do that! What has the Akatsuki done to you!"

Sakuya remained stoic, simply staring ahead at Rin. The others had to hold Gai back to prevent him from doing anything impulsive.

"I don't negotiate hostages." Sakuya said, though her eyes were fixed on Rin instead of Gai.

"Impressive." Rin remarked, smiling as she turned her gaze from the agitated Gai to the indifferent Sakuya. "I see that Itachi has taught you well."

Suddenly, on top of them, they were shadowed by a huge bird's outline. Sakuya glanced up and knew that company has arrived.

She smirked.

-+-+-+-+-+-

"Godaime!"

The sannin nodded.

"It's-"

She waved a hand for silence, centering her gaze on the cause of commotion.

The feudal lords are safety tucked away and she, with her group of ANBU, were now situated in a convenient corner where they can watch and protect the feudal lords and their village at the same time, that is, if the needarises.

"They should be back any moment now." She simply said.

-+-+-+-+-+-

"What was that…?" Hisa murmured at the overwhelming sight on top of her. She had sneaked out of the underground compound when she saw a commotion ahead. She pushed through the crowd and her gaze wondered from the huge bird to the lifeless familiar body hanging in the weird lady's arms. It was then she realized it was Kyosuke!

She started to run towards him. "Kyo-HmmMM-" But she was suddenly yanked backwards with a hand gagging over her mouth. She was pushed into a corner and when she finally had the chance to see who had this audacity, she realized it was her eldest sister, Hyuuga Hinata.

"One-sama!" Hisa muttered unbelievably. Since when she was back! "I thought you were-"

Hinata placed her hand over her mouth; her Byakugan already activated and focusing on the uninvited guests above. "We have a very dangerous situation here. Go and hide yourself."

Seeing the killer look she had never seen on her eldest sister, little Hisa did obediently just that.

-+-+-+-+-+-

"KONOHA WHIRLWIND!"

Sakuya flipped her hair out of her eyes just in time to see a Gai look-alike sending a powerful swift kick at the huge bird circling them above.

The bird got hit and disappeared in a puff of smoke, revealing the two passengers as they landed graciously side by side, flanking Rin. The Gai look-alike landed in front of her in a taijutsu stance, one hand behind his back and the other, in front.

_(Rock Lee)_ Sakuya realized, creasing her brows together in slight irritation. She was supposed to be the heroine, not him!

"Pretty gutsy to come here and face death."

Sakuya turned her head right to see Yamanaka Ino flanking her side. It was her who made the statement. There was this fire in her eyes that Sakuya liked.

"Sasori and Deidara. Today will be the last day you walk on this earth!" Tenten flanked her left.

The two Akatsuki members scoffed.

"Sakura-san, are you alright?" Lee posed the question with his back faced her. It took a bit of a moment for Sakuya to acknowledge his concern. As much as she hated to admit, she liked the alliance of the three. It made her feel… warm.

"Sakura, are you alright?" Ino nudged her when she remained quiet.

Mission, Sakuya told herself to focus on the mission when she looked into the blue eyes filled with warmth.

"Who are you?" Sakuya asked deliberately.

Ino blinked her eyes. "I'm… I'm Ino. You really don't remember me?"

"I can only remember Naruto." Sakuya replied in a matter of fact tone. "Where is he?" Out of the corner of her eyes, Sakuya thought she saw Lee faltered.

"Well, well, well…" Deidara interrupted, taking a look around him, settling his gaze at last at the four of them. "What a reunion."

"Rin, who is this?" Sasori asked, poking the lifeless boy in her arms.

Hisa, all the while watching the scene from her hiding place, was enraged by the outrageous action done to her Kyosuke-kun. She came out of her hiding place but a fierce glare from Hinata sent her right back to her little corner.

"Sakura's dear little brother." Rin replied, yanking the lifeless little body up. "_Dead_ little brother."

"Thirty seconds." Sakuya said in a low whisper, keeping her gaze ahead.

"Huh?" Ino cocked an eyebrow while Tenten frowned at her. Lee turned to look at her from the corner of his eyes.

"We've got thirty seconds before the boy is really dead." Sakuya explained, taking every ounce of her discipline not to laugh out loud. They are starting to take in her words and she has her superb acting skills to thank for! Ha! Deidara and the others were not bad too! But at the back of her mind, her heart went out for the boy…

"I see what you mean." Lee said, changing his stance. "I'll take the bird one." His feet shifted wider and Sakuya could tell he would be launching his attack any time from now.

"I'll take the middle one." Tenten said right after.

"Then what was left for me? The ugly one!" Ino exclaimed, face-faulting everyone.

"Appearances don't matter in battles, Ino-san. Victory is." Sakuya retorted.

"What do you mean, appearances doesn't matter!" Ino retorted, pointing a finger at Sasori. "Just look at him!"

Sasori twitched an eyebrow.

"Just looking at him makes me want to puke!"

"Then by all means, puke all you want, you Ino-pig!" Sakuya burst out, trying to control her hands to stay away from her neck. "If you're not going to take him, then I WILL! Now what are you looking at?"

"You just called me Ino-pig, you wide forehead girl." Ino uttered with a smile.

"Ok, we still got fifteen seconds left." Right after Tenten informed that, a razor-sharp chain came crashing down on them, ripping the part of the rooftop they were standing. The four of them parted instinctively, effectively dodging the attack.

Tenten began to rain kunais from the top while Lee charged right at Deidara.

Deidara released some poisonous spiders from his hands to slow Lee down but was effectively dispelled by Shino, who got his poisonous scorpions to fight it out. Tenten's kunai did some of them too. Lee took the chance and increased his speed. Deidara dodged one of his swift attacks directed at his face with crossed arms and the two were engaged in a bit of taijutsu before Deidara was flung away by one of Lee's famous kicks.

Sasori's chain was about to hit Ino when it froze itself right in front of her face. Breathing, it was then she realized it was caught in Shikamaru's Kage Mane no jutsu (Shadow Copy Technique).

"Pretty gutsy of you to come here and face death." Shikamaru said, coming out from a corner. Ino smiled at his imitation of what she said earlier.

Sakuya headed straight at Rin. There was a voice inside her that kept telling her to get to the boy in time. _(Nine more seconds…)_ She told herself. The two sparred each other with the kunai in their hands before crashing down the hole that Sasori made a while ago.

Inside the dark room, Sakuya knew she had broken one of her ribs but she still managed to smack Rin's hands away from Kyosuke and pulled the needle out of his neck just in time. The boy remained unconscious. But to play safe, Rin pressed the part of his neck that will send one in deep slumber.

"You're pretty concerned about the brat." Rin remarked, arching one of her knees while sprawling on the ground.

Sakuya looked around to make sure they were alone before she turned to Rin. "He's my brother, in case you've forgotten that." Sakuya snapped through gritted teeth. "I've got to keep him alive for credits. You can go now."

"Not until I got my answers." Rin murmured, cocking an eyebrow at her. "But I can wait." Rin stood up, walked towards Sakuya, gave her a punch and thrust a kunai right into her stomach, careful to miss her vital organs. "See you in full moon."

Sakuya grimaced from the pain, felt her blood trickled from her mouth as well as from her abdomen, and returned the blow with a kunai thrust right at Rin's chest, careful to miss her heart. "See you then." And she delivered a hard blow to her cheekbone, sending her flying backwards.

The two were gasping for breaths when Shizune, Hinata and some others burst into the room a moment later. The room was blood-spattered and so was the two adversarial kunoichis. Sakura was holding an unconscious Kyosuke dearly in her arms while Rin lay sprawled at a corner of the room. Upon seeing them, Rin immediately did some hand seals and got away in a puff of smoke.

The ANBUs tried to pursue but Shizune raised a hand to stop them. "Let her go."

"Sakura!" Hinata knelt beside her alongside with Shizune, who was as concerned. The mother whom Sakuya saw earlier was crying nonstop in front of her.

Sakuya held out a hand to her. "He's alright now. I got the needle out just in time…" She started to see two, three images of the mother. "Naruto…" and she felt herself falling backwards…

* * *

**More, coming up!**

**A/N: Hey! Hey! Just to inform you guys that I have changed my penname from Jestina to RedAngel06 and I have edited some of my chapters...hhmm.. mostly Chapter 1 I must say. In this chapter, you can see that Naruto and gang are back (Thank Goodness!) and things got a little rollercoaster ride somewhere in the middle where all started to fight! I'm quite bad at fighting scenes so I hope I didn't lose you then and there. Anyhow,hit the button and tell me what you think!**


	12. Konoha gets chaotic

_**To kouzumi 4eva: I think is because I keep jumping here and there. Or perhaps I didn't protray it as well. Anyhow, you can tell me what's confusing you and I'll be glad to answer you! -winks- Thanks for reviewing!**_

* * *

**Chapter 12: Konoha gets chaotic**

"Sakura-chan…"

It was ridiculous, but Naruto thought Sakura was calling out for him somewhere in the village. His gaze lingered on the familiar buildings ahead, only to be blurred by the raging flames around him.

"Naruto!"

Naruto landed on one of the surviving branches, and turned to look at Kiba, who landed a few branches ahead.

"Neji found something ahead!" Kiba informed. "Let's go!"

Kiba leaped ahead, followed by Akamaru closely behind. Naruto looked around him, finding the scent of fire annoyingly familiar.

_(It's got to be him… that bastard…)_

He heard his name being yelled, and immediately set on catching up with the others. The four of them, Neji, Kiba, Chouji and him were to find out the cause of fire while the rest ventured back to their village.

"What did you see?" Naruto heard Kiba asked Neji when he just landed beside them. The four of them were abreast each other on one of the stronger trees.

"Sasuke." Naruto uttered, before Neji could speak.

"Ah." Neji agreed with a nod.

"How did you know?" Chouji asked, tugging on Naruto's sleeves when the latter seemed preoccupied.

Kiba caught on faster. He should have realized it when their blonde comrade turned away from them the moment he joined them. He was looking at Uchiha Sasuke all the while!

Jeez! Since when was Uzumaki Naruto this fast in catching on?

Neji gestured Chouji to look ahead.

"Oh…" Chouji muttered, shading his eyes from the blazing heat with one of his hands. "Is he here for Sakura?"

The question caught the rest of them off guard, and surprise was certainly evident on their faces when the three of them simultaneously turned to face Chouji.

"Why would he?" Kiba asked, sounding incredulous at the same time considering the possibility. Shikamaru might be right when he said that this 'big-boned' comrade of theirs could draw out insightful but often neglected viewpoints.

"I don't know. But I thought they were teammates after all."

Naruto tore his gaze away from them, trying to clear his head by focusing upfront.

Kiba tried to retort. "But still-"

But Naruto wasn't in the mood. "I see another one, Neji, but I couldn't make out who it was." He moved his head to and fro to get a clearer peek. It was obvious to the rest of them that the subject was to be dropped. It was, after all, a delicate issue to Naruto.

"And he isn't mov-"

Neji cut him off. "Kakashi."

Naruto widened his eyes. A lot of possibilities crossed his mind but the one that kept repeating over in his head was death. He felt his anger building up, and was about to leap off when Neji stopped him with a hand on his shoulders.

"There is one more. We shall have to wait and see. Besides…" Neji gripped Naruto's shoulders when he doesn't seem placated. "There are four of us."

-+-+-+-+-+-

Sasuke noticed the fingers twitched. Matched with the grimace on his face, Sasuke knew Kakashi had survived from his high speed swirling slam dunk he copied from Lee years ago.

The jounin was now half-buried in the earth barely breathing and Sasuke wondered why the famous copy nin made no efforts to evade his earlier attack. He knew he could, someway or another. Kakashi was someone he used to look upon after all.

But Kakashi aside, Sasuke turned to glare at the intruder who dared to interfere just now. If not for him, Kakashi would have been dead. A few shurikens were flung at him barely moments before they hit the ground, thus lessening the impact Kakashi had to take when he let go of him to dodge the surprise attack.

The intruder dragged his feet out from the shadows of fire and Sasuke thought his eyes were playing tricks on him.

It was a midget with hair and eyes as dark as the night. In other words, it was a kid!

His Sharingan scanned the boy from head to toe, and found that the kid was… indeed only a kid. Sasuke thought he was foolish doing that, because his Sharingan would have told him firsthand if there was indeed something amiss with the boy.

His plain white shirt and khaki knee-length pants were soiled form the fire, and so was his boyish-looking face. Sasuke reckoned the boy to be not older than twelve, and the way he was made Sasuke felt that he was looking at a younger him. Now, that triggered something…

"Hi…" The boy greeted awkwardly, one hand facing up while the other was tucked behind his head.

"Are you the one?" Sasuke asked instead, his voice as cold as winter.

"I didn't mean to.. do that…"

Sasuke frowned. Was he trying to apologize for just now? No… he must have something up in his sleeves.

"You can still turn back, you know." The boy blurted, his hands now at his sides.

Sasuke's frown creased deeper. "Turn back for what? What does a kid like you know?"

"You never listen." The boy said, his eyes downcast.

"Eh?" It was an instinctive reply, but Sasuke thought this one was one hell of an oddball!

"You asked me what I know, didn't you?" The boy explained. "And my-" He froze when he was interrupted by a shuriken flying swiftly past his face, effectively slitting his cheek and a few strands of his tousled hair.

He was still in shocked mode when a shadow suddenly loomed over him and lifted him off the ground in that split second, his limbs desperately struggling against the death grip on his neck.

Sasuke tightened his grip. "Go to hell."

Tears welled up at the corners of his eyes and flowed freely down his cheeks.

Sasuke smirked. How he loved to see the last moments of his preys. So beautiful was their expressions. But this one was dignified. He didn't beg for his life like the others shamelessly did. For that, Sasuke decided he would kill him simply – by twisting his neck, that is.

But his instincts told him that someone was charging at him at a very high speed.

He looked to his right.

Only fire working their way out.

"Let go of him, you cold-blooded filthy animal!"

The element of surprise caught Sasuke off guard, and he couldn't dodge the kick aimed at his face in time. He was forced to release the boy as he got flung away by the wretched kick.

The boy landed on the ground with a thud. He grimaced from the throbbing pain coming from his neck and his bottom. A shadow loomed over him once again and he looked up, staring at the back of the ninja he known as Uzumaki Naruto.

"It's about time you came." The boy drawled, rubbing his neck and bottom as he stood up.

Naruto turned to look at him. "Sorry about that. You're alright?"

"Yeah."

"Things are going to get really ugly here, kid."

The boy nodded. "Hm."

Naruto turned his head back front. "You shouldn't be here."

The boy stared at the back of Naruto. He knew he wasn't smiling now.

"Yeah. I know."

Sasuke rubbed his bruised jaw bitterly as he stood up. He doesn't even need to look to know who bestowed the kick. The colorful use of vocabulary said enough about _him_. He did looked though, and there the number one in surprising people dobe was, glaring right at him. The boy was behind him, though he blocked most of him. Kiba and Chouji appeared then, helping the unconscious Kakashi up. The four of them were talking, but the conversation was not strong enough to carry over to his side. But it soon became apparent to Sasuke that they were arguing who got to stay, for the Inuzuka glared at him with disappointment before disappearing fleetingly with Kakashi on his shoulders.

Chouji was to get the boy, but the boy slapped his hand away and hurried to sandwich himself between Naruto and Sasuke.

"Stop!" He held his hands up to both of them. "I know what you two are thinking! But now is not the time!"

He knew he wasn't making any sense to them, for Naruto looked rather exasperated while Sasuke simply glared.

"Eh…" The boy rubbed his hands together, seemingly in search of the right words to say. "Look! The fire is eating us! We should worry about that first!"

"Kid." It was Chouji. "That's why I'm taking you away. We have to seek help to put out the fire. And you should be worrying about yourself first."

"No, you don't understand! Both of them shouldn't be fighting each other now!" The three were taken aback by the boy's bizarre outburst. And the boy continued, "Akatsuki! Yes, the Akatsuki! Some of them are here, if I'm not wrong! And, and, and Sakura! Yes! Her! She's in danger now, I suppose. We should get to her as soon as possible."

In less than five seconds, the boy was sorry that he mentioned Sakura.

"Sasuke-bastard! If not for you, Sakura-chan wouldn't be suffering now!" Naruto snapped.

The boy gulped. "Eh-"

"She was stupid, and so were you!" Sasuke countered, matching Naruto's killing expression.

With clenched fists, Naruto advanced a step. "And guess what, damn it! You were the stupidest of us all! Fancy believing Orochimaru would give you power when all he wants is that lame body of yours!"

"Ple-"

Sasuke swung his right arm in agitation. "And you wanting to be the Hokage was just as lame, DOBE!"

"TEME! I'm going to kill you right here, right now, SASUKE-BASTARD!"

"Ex-"

"That's my line, DOBE!"

"Shut up, SASUKE-BASTARD!"

And both of them started to charge towards each other at that same time.

Sasuke got to the boy first. "Get out of my way!"

The boy was hurled wretchedly away from where he was, but was cushioned by the bloated Chouji in time. He uttered his thanks and tried to look for the two anxiously, but all he heard was the whooshing sound. Both of them were fighting a high speed duel, the boy realized, for both of them were moving so fast that they seemed invisible in his naked eyes.

"What have I done…?"

-+-+-+-+-+-

"Stop now, Sasori, Diedara." Rin called out breathlessly on one of the trees nearby. She noticed the teams gathering, and most important of all, the Fifth was nearby, in fact watching them. She started to wonder why there was no action from her. "We're outnumbered."

Upon 'eavesdropping' that, Lee decided to deliver the fatal blow at Diedara when his kick got blocked by a huge spear. It took him a moment to recognize the familiar weapon – The Samehada.

Kisame stood out behind his weapon with a smirk. "Later, boy."

Shikamaru felt someone behind him. Before he can react, his eyes dilated with the sudden affliction that shot through his body - a kunai drove right into his spinal cord.

Itachi pulled out the kunai and drove it right in the fresh wound a scant second later, doubling Shikamaru's pain by twisting the kunai in his hand. Shikamaru grimaced from the excruciating agony and dropped to his knees, effectively canceling any of his jutsu used on Sasori.

"Shikamaru!" Ino cried out and delivered five shurikens towards the elder Uchiha but her shurikens clashed with Rin's, who was looking out for the Uchiha above them. However, another five shurikens flew out from nowhere straight after that, undoubtedly heading towards Itachi but he disappeared in a blink of the eyes, appearing alongside Rin on the tree with Kisame, Sasori and Diedara.

His crimson cold orbs instinctively settled on the pink-haired kunoichi, who was now glaring at him, willing him to die with those piercing emerald eyes of hers. From the corners of his eyes while behind Shikamaru a while ago, he saw the Haruno coming out of the house with a couple of medics helping her. He expected she would do something, so no doubt it was her who flung the shurikens.

Their mole dropped to her knees, gasping for breaths but her attention never left them.

"Sakura!" He heard all of them called out to her at the same time. They offered to help her up but she smacked their hands away.

"It's about time we go." Itachi said plainly, narrowing his eyes on Sakura.

"But the fun only just started." Diedara answered with a smirk, enjoying the scene below them.

"Some changes are going to take place, and when that happens, you won't be thinking about fun." The Uchiha pointed out.

"What changes?" Sasori asked. "Is there something you're keeping us from, Itachi? What has Yuya told you that we didn't know?"

The Uchiha answered by vanishing right before them.

"Damn him!" Sasori spat and went on catching up with him. Diedara and Kisame went off after him. Rin spared a glance at Sakura. The kunoichi was holding up. Rin averted her tired eyes to the raging forest. They needed to pass there in order to get out of Konoha, so…

"Rin! What are you waiting for?" Diedara's bellow brushed off her thoughts and she too, vanished above the midst of commotion.

-+-+-+-+-+-

"I'm not done yet!" Hinata heard Sakura's assertion but was not fast enough to stop her. Sakura was gone before she could even react.

"Let them go!" Shizune asserted when various jounins tried to pursue the Akatsuki. "See to the firefighter teams. There must be something going on amidst the fire for them to take so long!"

The shinobis nodded and disappeared promptly after that.

"Tenten! Lee! Go after Sakura! Don't let her out of the village!" Shizune commanded right after that. The two nodded and disappeared as swiftly.

Hinata nodded at Shizune knowingly and immediately set to calm the shocked civilians. Shizune quickly saw to Shikamaru's injuries. The Nara was already unconscious. Ino was sobbing nonstop beside him.

"Don't die on me, Shikamaru!" Ino muttered in between sobs. "Please."

As for Shino, he turned his gaze towards the raging fire, deep in thoughts.

-+-+-+-+-+-

"Kakashi-san, you're awake?" Kiba asked when he felt Kakashi shifting behind him.

They were still within the fire compound. And Akamaru was leading the way out in front of them.

"Ah." Kakashi feebly replied. "Sasuke…"

"Naruto is dealing him." Kiba answered. "Let's get you to the hos-"

He was cut short when Akamaru came leaping back to him. "What's wrong, Akamaru?"

Akamaru gritted his teeth and quivered. Kiba scowled and looked ahead. "Someone is coming. And it's not one of us."

"Akatsuki." Kakashi reckoned.

Shortly after Kakashi said that, four shadows leaped over them. Kiba's head snapped up in absolute surprise. They didn't stop. Then another leaped over them. But this one turned her head back though the face was veiled. Kakashi recognized instantly who it was.

"Rin…" Kakashi uttered faintly before he passed out.

"Kakashi-san!" Kiba rested Kakashi on the trunk and slapped him light on the face. When he got no response, he checked his pulse and found that it was dangerously weak. He quickly loaded Kakashi on his back once again when another shadow leaped over them. The pink tresses and the ragged green robe told him instantly it was Sakura.

"Sakura!" Kiba shouted, but she didn't stop.

Kiba cursed. He didn't like the idea of being leaped over and ignored. But something big must be happening, if not, why would the Akatsuki not take the advantage? He knew they knew he and the injured Kakashi was below them, hence ridding them would be, in fact, easy.

So when another two more leaped over them, the Inuzuka decided enough was enough.

"Tenten! Lee! What's going on?"

Lee turned his head back. "You do what you have to do! Don't bother about us!"

Kiba scoffed. How he hated to be the one left out.

"What's with the fire?" He then heard Gai beside him. Gai and his team, Kiba realized, and a lot others were all over the place.

When Gai realized Kakashi was unconscious on Kiba's back, he asked anxiously, "What happened to Kakashi?"

"Sasuke did it." Kiba said as a matter of fact.

"Kiba, rush Kakashi to the hospital. Leave here to us." Kurenai said above him.

Kiba nodded and got on with Akamaru.

Gai clenched his fists. "This is maddening!"

One team of the firefighters was spotted and their expressions showed exhaustion when confronted.

"The fire doesn't seem to end." One of them breathlessly informed.

"Sasuke must be behind this." Gai reckoned. "Let's go!"

* * *

**Hmm... I was actually contemplating on 'killing' some of the characters like Kakashi and Shikamaru. That's why I made them seriously injured. I thought it might create a little angst in it, having to lose two outstanding shinobi at the same time. What do you think? And y****ou might be wondering who the boy in white shirt and khaki pants is... you might be surprised... hehe.. later...**


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